THE 


AMERICAN   CHURCHES 


THE    BULWARKS 


AMERICAN    SLAVERY, 


BY  JAMES    Gf.  i 

I 


THIRD  AMERICAN  EDITION. 


REVISED  BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


PUBLISHED  BY  PARKER  PILLSBURY. 

1885. 


NTRODUCTION. 

BY  PARKER  PILLSBURY. 

• 

'The  following  work  is  reproduced  without  apology.  It 
is  needed  as  authentic  anti-slavery  history,  and  as  showing 
beyond  all  dispute  who  were  most  zealous  defenders  of 
American  slavery,  and  the  most  virulent  opponents  of  the 
active  abolitionists. 

The  author,  Hon.  James  G.  Birney,  the  only  truly  anti- 
slavery  man  ever  nominated  for  the  presidency  while  slavery 
lasted,  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and  connected  both  by 
birth  and  marriage  with  many  of  its  first  families.  His  ed- 
ucation completed,  he  spent  fifteen  years  in  Huntsville,  Ala- 
bama, a  successful  lawyer,  and  for  a  time  solicitor-general, 
besides  being  tendered  a  seat  on  the  bench  of  the  supreme 
court. 

He  was  appointed  by  the  legislature  to  nominate,  at  his 
sole  discretion,  the  faculty  of  the  State  University.  Return- 
ing to  Kentucky,  he  was  called  to  the  Professorship  of  Polit- 
ical Economy,  Rhetoric,  and  Belles-Lettres  in  Centre  College 
at  Danville  in  that  state.  And  those  who  knew  him  testified 
that  "  his  character  and  Christian  influence  were  quite  equal 
to  his  public  standing."  But  public  and  private  virtues, 
intellectual  eminence,  and  the  highest  lay  official  positions 
in  the  Presbyterian  church,  were  all  lost  in  becoming  a 
repentant  slaveholder  and  an  active,  earnest  abolitionist. 

About  the  commencement  of  the  wondrous  career  of  Will- 
iam Lloyd  Garrison  and  the  establishment  by  him  of  The 
Liberator  in  Boston,  Mr.  Theodore  D.  Weld,  one  of  our  most 
eloquent  and  powerful  anti-slavery  lecturers  and  writers,  en- 
countered Mr.  Birney  while  yet  a  slaveholder,  and  held  some 
searching  discussions  with  him  and  his  minister,  also  a  slave- 
holder, on  the  right  of  one  man  to  hold  absolute  property  in 
his  fellow-man.  The  argument  began  with  the  minister  in 
the  absence  of  Birney,  who  welcomed  Weld  to  the  parson- 
age till  he  should  return.  He  came  in  a  few  days,  and 


448118 


- 


Publisher's  Notice. 

This  work  is  reproduced  by  Parker  Pillsbury,  Concord,  N.  H. :  price, 
single  copy,  15  cents;  2  copies,  25  cents;  10  copies,  1  dollar. 

Also,  for  sale,  "Acts  of«the  Anti-Slavery  Apostles,"  by  Parker  Pills- 
bury:  price,  postage  paid,  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents. 


AMERICAN    SLAVERY. 


THE  extent  to  which  most  of  the  churches  in  America 
are  involved  in  the  guilt  of  supporting  the  slave  system 
is  known  to  but  few  in  this  country.*  So  far  from  being 
even  suspected  by  the  great  mass  of  the  religious  commu- 
nity here,  it  would' not  be  believed  but  on  the  most  indis- 
putable evidence.  Evidence  of  this  character  it  is  proposed 
now  to  present — apptying  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal,  the 
Baptist,  the  Presbyterian,  and  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
churches.  It  is  done  with  a  single  view  to  make  the 
British  Christian  public  acquainted  with  the  real  state  of 
the  case — in  order  that  it  may  in  the  most  intelligent  arid 
effective  manner  exert  the  influence  it  possesses  with  the 
American  churches  to  persuade  them  to  purify  themselves 
from  a  sin  that  has  greatly  debased  them,  and  that  threat- 
ens in  the  end  wholly  to  destroy  them. 

The  following  memoranda  will  assist  English  readers 
in  more  readily  apprehending  the  force  and  scope  of  the 
evidence. 

I.  Of  the    twenty-six   American   states,   thirteen    are 
slave  states.    Of  the  latter,  Maryland,  Virginia,  Kentucky, 
Missouri,  and  Tennessee  (in  part),  are  slave-selling  states  ; 
the  states  south  of  them  are  slave-buying  and  slave-con- 
suming  states. 

II.  Between  the  slave-selling  and  slave-buying  states 
the  slave-trade  is  carried  on  extensively  and  systemati- 
cally.    The  slave-trader,  on  completing  his  purchases  for 
a  single  adventure,  brings  the  gang  together  at  a  conven- 
ient point;   confines  the  men  in  double  rows  to  a  large 
chain  running  between  the  rows,  by  means  of  smaller  lat- 
eral chains  tightly  riveted  around  the  wrists  of  the  slaves, 

*  England — where  this  pamphlet  was  first  published. 


8 

and  connected  with  the  principal  chain.  They  are  in 
this  way  driven  along  the  highways  (the  small  boys,  the 
women,  and  girls  following),  without  any  release  from 
their  chains  till  they  arrive  at  the  ultimate  place  of  sale. 
Here  they  occupy  barracoons,  till  they  are  disposed  of,  one 
by  one,  or  in  lots,  to  those  who  will  give  most  for  them. 

III.  Ministers    and    office-bearers,    and    members    of 
churches    are    slaveholders — buying     and    selling   slaves 
(not  as  the  regular  slave-trader),  but  as  their  convenience 
or  interest  may  from  time  to  time  require.     As  a  general 
rule,  the  itinerant  preachers  in  the  Methodist  church  are 
not   permitted    to    hold    slaves — but   there   are  frequent 
exceptions  to  the  rule,  especially  of  late. 

IV.  There  are  in  the  United  States,  about  .2,487,113 
slaves,  and  386,069  free  people  of  color.     Of  the  slaves, 
80.000  are  members  of  the  Methodist  church ;   80,000  of 
the  Baptist;    and  about  40,000   of  the    other  churches. 
These    church  members  have  no   exemption  from  being 
sold  by  their  owners  as  other  slaves  are.     Instances  are 
not  rare    of   slaveholding    members    of  churches    selling 
slaves  who  are  members  of  the  same  church  with  them- 
selves.    And  members   of   churches   have   followed   the 
business  of  slave-auctioneers. 

V.  In  most  of  the  slave  states  the  master  is  not  per- 
mitted formally  to  emancipate,  unless  the    emancipated 
person  be   removed   from   the   state   (which  makes    the 
formal  act  unnecessary),  or,  unless  by  a  special  act  of  the 
legislature.     If,  however,  he  disregard  the  law,  and  per- 
mit the  slave  to  go  at  liberty  and  "do"  for  himself,  the 
law — on  the  theory  that  every  slave  ought  to  have  a  mas- 
ter to  see  to  him — directs  him  to  be  sold  for  the  benefit  of 
the  state.     Instances  of  this,  however,  must  be  very  rare. 
The  people  are   better  than  their  laws — for  the  writer, 
during  a  residence  of  more  than  thirty  years  in  the  slave 
states,  never  knew  an  instance  of  such  a  sale,  nor  has  he 
ever  heard  of  one  that  was  fully  proved  to  have  taken 
place. 

VI.  There  is  no  law  in  any  of  the  slave  states  forbid- 
ding the   slaveholder  to  remove  his  slaves  to  a  free  state  ; 
nor  against  his  giving  the  slaves  themselves  a  "  pass"  for 
that  purpose.    The  laws  of  some  of  the  free  states  present 
obstructions  to  the  settlement  of  colored  persons  within 


their  limits — but  these  obstructions  are  not  insurmount- 
able, and  if  the  validity  of  the  laws  should  be  tried  in  the 
tribunals,  it  would  be  found  they  are  unconstitutional. 

VII.  In  the  slave  state?  a  s?  ive  cannot  be  a  witness  in 
any  case,  civil  or  crimina.    in  which   a  white   is  a  party. 
Neither  can  a  free  colored  person,  except  in  Louisiana. 
Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois   (free    states),   make   colored 
persons  incompetent  as  witnesses  in  any  case  in  which  a 
white  is  a  party.     In  Ohio,  a  white  person  can  prove  his 
own  ("book")  accoiint,  not  exceeding  a  certain  sum,  by 
his  own  oath  or  affirmation.     A  colored  person  cannot,  as 
against  a  white.     In  Ohio  the  laws  regard  all  who  are 
mulattoes,  or  above  the  grade  of  mulattoes,  as  tchite. 

VIII.  There  is  no  law  in  the  slave  states  forbidding 
the  several  church  authorities   making    slaveholding  an 
offence,  for  which  those  guilty  of  it  might  be   excluded 
from  membership. 

The  Society  of  Friends  exists  in  the  slave  states — it  ex- 
cludes slaveholders. 

The  United  Brethren  exist  as  a  church  in  Maryland 
and  Virginia,  slave  states.  Their  Annual  Conference  for 
these  two  states  (in  which  are  thirty  preachers)  met  in 
February  [1840].  The  following  is  an  extract  from  its 
minutes  : — 

"  No  charge  is  preferred  against  any  (preachers)  except  Frank- 
lin Echard  and  Moses  Michael. 

"  It  appeared  in  evidence  that  Moses  Michael  was  the-owner 
of  a  female  slave,  which  is  contrary  to  the  discipline  of  our 
church.  Conference  therefore  resolved,  that  unless  brother 
Michael  manumit  or  set  free  such  slave  in  six  months,  he  no 
longer  be  considered  a  member  of  our  church." 

IX.  When    ecclesiastical   councils    excuse    themselves 
from    acting  for  the  removal  of  slavery  from  their  respec- 
tive communions  by  saying,  they  cannot  legislate  for  the 
abolition  of  slavery ;  that  slavery  is  a  civil  or  political  in- 
stitution ;  that  it?  "  belongs   to   Caesar,"  and    not  to   the 
church  to  put  an  end  to  it, — they  shun  the  point  at  issue. 
To  the  church  member  who  is  a  debauchee,  a  drunkard, 
a  seducer,  a  murderer,  they  tind  no  difficulty  in  saying, — 
"We  cannot  indeed  proceed  against  your  person,  or  your 
pVoperty — this  belongs  to  Caesar,  to  the  tribunals  of  the 
country,,    to   the    legislature;    but    we    can    suspend   or 


10 

wholly  cut  you  off  from  the  communion  of  the  church, 
with  a  view  to  your  repentance  and  its  purification."  If 
a  white  member  should  by  force  or  intimidation,  day  after 
da}r,  deprive  another  white  member  of  his  property,  the 
authorities  of  the  churches  would  expel  him  from  their 
body,  should  he  refuse  to  make  restitution  or  reparation, 
although  it  could  not  be  enforced  except  through  the 
tribunals,  over  which  they  have  no  control.  There  is, 
then,  nothing  to  prevent  these  authorities  from  saying  to 
the  slave-holder,  u  Cease  being  a  slaveholder  and  remain 
in  the  church,  or  continue  a  slaveholder  and  go  out  of  it. 
You  have  your  choice.'1 

X.  The  slave  states  make  it  penal  to  teach  the  slaves 
to  read.     So  also  some  of  them  to  teach  the/ree  colored 
people  to  read.    Thus  a  free  colored  parent  may  suffer  the 
penalty  for  teaching  his  own  children  to  read  even  the 
Scriptures.     None   of  the  slave-holding  churches,  or  re- 

Jigious  bodies,  so  far  as  is  known,  have,  at  any  time, 
remonstrated  with  the  legislatures  against  this  iniquitous 
legislation,  or  petitioned  for  its  repeal  or  modification. 
Nor  have  the}*  reproved  or  questioned  such  of  their  mem- 
bers, as,  being  also  members  of  the  legislatures,  sanctioned 
such  legislation  by  their  votes. 

XI.  There  is  no  systematic  instruction  of  the   slave- 
members  of  churches,  either  orally  or  in  any  other  way. 

XII.  Uniting  with  a  church  makes  no  change  in  the 
condition  of  slaves  at  home.     They  are  thrown  back  just 
as  before,  among  their  old  associates,  and  subjected  to 
their  corrupting  influences. 

XIII.  But  little  pains  are  taken  to  secure  their  attend- 
ance at  public  worship  on  Sundays. 

XIV.  The    "house-servants"    are    rarely    present    at 
family  worship  ;  the  "  field-hands,"  never. 

XV.  It  is  only  one  here  and  there  who  seems  to  have 
any  intelligent  views  of  the  nature  of  Christianity,  or  of 
a  future  life. 

XVI.  In   the   Methodist,   Baptist,    Presbyterian,    and 
Episcopal  churches,   the   colored  people,  during  service, 
sit  in  a  particular  part  of  the  house,  now  generally  known 
as  the  negro  pew.     They  are  not  permitted  to  sit  in  any 
other,  nor  to  hire  or  purchase  pews  as  other  people,'  nor 
would  they  be  permitted  to  sit,  even  if  invited,  in  the  pews 
of  white  persons.     This  applies  to  all  colored  persons, 


11 

whether  members  or  not,  and  even  to  licensed  ministers  of 
their  respective  connections.  The  "negro  pew"  is  almost 
as  rigidly  kept  up  in  the  free  states  as  in  the  slave. 

XVII.  In  some  of  the  older  slave  states,  as  Virginia 
and  South  Carolina,  churches,  in  their  corporate  character, 
hold  slaves,  who  are  generally  hired  out  for  the  support  of 
the  minister.     The  following  is  taken  from  the  Charleston 
Courier  of  February  12th,  1835. 

FIELD  NEGROES,  by  Thomas  Gadsden. 

On  Tuesday,  the  17th  instant,  will  be  sold,  at  the  north  of  the 
Exchange,  at  ten  o'clock,  a  prirnegang  often  NEGROES,  accustomed 
to  the  culture  of  cotton  and  provisions,  belonging  to  the  INDEPEN- 
DENT CHURCH,  in  Christ's  Church  Parish.  .  .  Feb.  6. 

XVIII.  Nor  are  instances  wanting  in  which  negroes 
are  bequeathed  for  the  benefit  of  the  Indians,  as  the  fol- 
lowing Chancery  notice,  taken  from  a  Savannah   (Geo.) 
paper  will  show. 

"Bryan  Superior  Court. 
Between  John  J.  Maxwell  and  others,  Executors  of  ~) 

Ann  Pray,  complainants,  and  (         is 

Mary  Sleigh  and  others,  Devisees  and  Legatees,  under  f    EQUITY. 

the  will  of  Ann  Pray,  defendants. 

"A  Bill  having  been  filed  for  the  distribution  of  the  estate  of 
the  Testatrix,  Ann  Pray,  and  it  appearing  that  among  other  lega- 
cies in  her  will,  is  the  following,  viz.,  a  legacy  of  one  fourth  of 
certain  negro  slaves  to  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Domestic  [Foreign  it  probably  should  have  been]  Missions,  for 
the  purpose  of  sending  the  gospel  to  the  heathen,  and  particularly 
to  the  Indians  of  this  continent.  It  is  on  motion  of  the  solicitors 
of  the  complainants  ordered,  that  all  persons  claiming  the  said 
legacy,  do  appear  and  answer  the  bill  of  the  complainants,  within 
four  months  from  this  day.  And  it.is  ordered  that  this  order  be 
published  in  a  public  Gazette  of  the  city  of  Savannah,  and  in  one 
of  the  Gazettes  of  Philadelphia,  once  a  month  for  four  months. 

"Extract  from  the  minutes,  Dec.  2nd,  1832. 
"  JOHN  SMITH,  c.  s.  c.  B.  c." — (The  bequest  was  not  accepted.) 

INFLUENCES  UNDER  WHICH  THE  AMERICAN 
CHURCHES  HAVE  BEEN  BROUGHT. 

Charleston  (City]  Gazette. — "  We  protest againt  the  assumption 
— the  unwarrantable  assumption — that  slavery  is  ultimately  to  be 
extirpated  from  the  Southern  states.  Ultimate  abolitionists  are 
enemies  of  the  South,  the  same  in  kind,  and  only  less  in  degree, 
than  immediate  abolitionists." 

Washington  (City)  Telegraph. — "  As  a  man,  a  Christian,  and  a 
citizen,  we  believe  that  slavery  is  right;  that  the  condition  of  the 
slaveholding  states  is  the  best  existing  organization  of  civil 
society." 


12 

Chancellor  Harper,  of  South  Caroling. — "It  is  the  order  of 
nature,  and  of  GOD,  that  the  being  of  superior  faculties  and  knowl- 
edge, and  therefore  of  superior  power,  should  control  and  dispose 
of  those  who  are  inferior.  It  is  as  much  in  the  order  of  nature 
that  men  should  enslave  each  other,  as  that  other  animals  should 
prey  upon  each  other." 

Columbia  (5£  C.)  Telescope. — "Let  us  declare,  through  the  pub- 
lic journals  of  our  country,  that  thequestion  of  slavery  is  not,  and 
shall  not  be  open  to  discussion ;  that  the  system  is  deep-rooted 
among  us,  and  must  remain  forever ;  that  the  very  moment  any 
private  individual  attempts  to  lecture  upon  its  evils  and  immoral- 
ity, and  the  necessity  of  putting  means  in  operation  to  secure  us 
from  them,  in  the  same  moment  his  tongue  shall  be  cut  out  and 
cast  upon'a  dunghill." 

Augusta  (6?eo7)  Chronicle. — "  He  [Amos  Dresser]  should  have 
been  hung  up  as  high  as  Haman,  to  rot  upon  the  gibbet,  until  the 
wind  whistled  through  his  bones.  The  cry  of  the  whole  South 
should  be  death,  INSTANT  DEATH,  to  the  abolitionist,  wherever 
he  is  caught." 

[Amos  Dresser,  now  a  missionary  in  Jamaica,  was  a 
theological  student  at  Lane  Seminary,  near  Cincinnati. 
In  the  vacation  (August,  1835)  he  undertook  to  sell  Bibles 
in  the  state  of  Tennessee,  with  a  view  to  raise  means 
further  to  continue  his  studies.  Whilst  there,  he  fell 
under  suspicion  of  being  an  abolitionist,  was  arrested  by 
the  Vigilance  Committee,  whilst  attending  a  religious 
meeting  in  the  neighborhood  of  Nashville,  the  capital  of 
the  state,  and  after  an  afternoon  and  evening's  inquisition 
condemned  to  receive  twenty  lashes  on  his  naked  body. 
The  sentence  was  executed  on  him,  between  eleven  and 
twelve  o'clock  on  Saturday  night,  in  the  presence  of  most 
of  the  committee,  and  of  an  infuriated  and  blaspheming 
mob.  The  Vigilance  Committee  (an  unlawful  association) 
consisted  of  sixty  persons.  Of  these,  twenty-seven  were 
members  of  churches ;  one,  a  religious  teacher,  another, 
the  elder,  who  but  a  few*"days  before,  in  the  Presbyterian 
church,  handed  Mr.  Dresser  the  bread  and  wine  at  the 
communion  of  the  Lord's  Supper.] 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  of  1835,  the  slave- 
holders generally  became  alarmed  at  the  progress  of  the 
abolitionists.  Meetings  were  held  throughout  the  South 
to  excite  all  classes  of  people  to  the  requisite  degree  of 
exasperation  against  them.  At  one  of  these  meetings, 
held  at  Clinton,  Mississippi,  it  was 


13 


Resolved, - 


"That  slavery  through  the  South  and  "West  is  not  felt  as  an 
evil,  moral  or  political,  but  it  is  recognized  in  reference  to  the 
actual,  and  not  to  any  Utopian  condition  of  our  slaves,  as  a  bless- 
ing, both  to  master  and  slave." 

Resolved, — 

"  That  it  is  our  decided  opinion,  that  any  individual  who  dares 
to  circulate,  with  a  view  to  effectuate  the  designs  of  the  abolition- 
ists, any  of  the  incendiary  tracts  or  newspapers  now  in  a  course 
of  transmission  to  this  country,  is  justly  worthy,  in  the  sight  of 
God  and  man,  of  immediate  death  ;  and  we  doubt  not  that  such 
would  be  the  punishment  of  any  such  offender  in  any  part  of  the 
state  of  Mississippi  where  he  may  be  found." 

Resolved, — 

"That  we  recommend  to  the  citizens  of  Mississippi,  to  encour- 
age the  cause  of  the  American  Colonization  Society,  so  long  as  in 
good  faith  it  concentrates  its  energies  alone  on  the  removal  of  the 
free  people  of  color  out  of  the  United  States." 

Resolved, — 

"  That  the  clergy  of  the  state  of  Mississippi  be  hereby  recom- 
mended at  once  to  take  a  stand  upon  this  subject,  and  that  their 
further  silence  in  relation  thereto,  at  this  crisis,  will,  in  our  opin- 
ion, be  subject  to  serious  censure." 

At  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  the  post-office  was 
forced,  the  Anti-Slavery  publications,  which  were  there 
for  distribution  or  further  transmission  to  masters,  taken 
out  and  made  a  bonfire  of  in  the  street,  by  a  mob  of 
several  thousand  people. 

A  public  meeting  was  appointed  to  be  held  a  few  days 
afterward  to  complete,  in  the  same  spirit  in  which  they 
were  commenced,  preparations  for  excluding  Anti-Slavery 
publications  from  circulation,  and  for  ferreting  out  per- 
sons suspected  of  favoring  the  doctrines  of  the  abolition- 
ists, that  they  might  be  subjected  to  lynch  law.  At  this 
assembly  the  Charleston  Courier  informs  us, — 

"The  Clergy  of  all  denominations  attended  in  a  body,  lending 
their  sanction  to  the  proceedings,  arid  adding  by  their  presence 
to  the  impressive  character  of  the  scene." 

It  was  there  resolved, — 

"That  the  thanks  of  this  meeting  are  due  to  the  Reverend  gpntle- 
men  of  the  clergy  in  this  city,  who  have  so  promptly  and  so  effectu- 
ally responded  to  public  sentiment,  by  suspending  their  schools  in 
which  thefree  colored  population  were  taught;  and  that  this  meeting 


14 

deem  it  a  patriotic  action,  worthy  of  all  praise,  and  proper  to  be 
imitated  by  other  teachers  of  similar  schools  throughout  the  state." 

The  alarm  of  the  Virginia  slaveholders  was  not  less — 
nor  were  the  clergy  in  the  city  of  Richmond,  the  capital, 
less  prompt  than  the  clergy  in  Charleston  to  respond  to 
"public  sentiment."  Accordingly,  on  the  29th  of  July, 
they  assembled  together,  and 

Kesolved,  unanimously, — 

"That  we  earnestly  deprecate  the  unwarrantable  and  highly 
improper  interference  of  the  people  of  any  other  state  with  the 
domestic  relations  of  master  and  slave. 

"That  the  example  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles, 
in  not  interfering  with  the  question  of  slavery,  but  uniformly 
recognizing  the  relations  of  master  and  servant,  and  giving  full 
and  affectionate  instruction  to  both,  is  worthy  of  the  imitation  of 
all  ministers  of  the  gospel. 

"  That  we  will  not  patronize  nor  receive  any  pamphlet  or  news- 
paper of  the  Anti-Slavery  Societies,  and  that  we  will  discounte- 
nance the  circulation  of  all  such  papers  in  the  community. 

"That  the  suspicions  which  have  prevailed  to  a  considerable 
extent  against  ministers  of  the  gospel  and  professors  of  religion  in 
the  state  of  Virginia,  as  identified  with  abolitionists,  are  wholly 
unmerited — believing  as  we  do,  from  extensive  acquaintance  with 
our  churches  and  brethren,  that  they  are  unanimous  in  opposing 
the  pernicious  schemes  of  abolitionists." 

THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHUECH. 

700,000  Members. 

In  1780,  four  years  before  the  Episcopal  Methodist 
Church  was  regularly  organized  in  the  United  States,  the 
conference  bore  the  following  testimony  against  slavery  : 

"The  conference  acknowledges  that  slavery  is  contrary  to  the 
laws  of  God,  man,  and  nature,  and  hurtful  to  society  ;  contrary  to 
the  dictates  of  conscience  and  true  religion,  and  doing  what  we 
would  not  others  should  do  unto  us." 

In  1784,  when  the  church  was  fully  organized,  rules 
were  adopted,  prescribing  the  times  at  which  members, 
who  were  already  slaveholders,  should  emancipate  their 
slaves.  These  rules  were  succeeded  by  the  following: 

"Every  person  concerned,  who  will  not  comply  with  these 
rules,  shall  have  liberty  quietly  to  withdraw  from  our  society 
within  the  twelve  months  following  the  notice  being  given  him  as 
aforesaid  ;  otherwise  the  assistants  shall  exclude  him  the  society. 

"No  person  holding  slaves  shall  in  future  be  admitted  into 
society,  or  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  till  he  previously  comply  with 
these  rules  concerning  slavery. 


15 

"Those  who  buy,  sell,  or  give  [slaves]  away,  unless  on  purpose 
to  free  them,  shall  be  expelled  immediately." 

In  1785  the  following  language  was  held  : — 

"  We  do  hold  in  the  deepest  abhorrence  the  practice  of  slavery, 
and  shall  not  cease  to  seek  its  destruction  by  all  wise  and  prudent 
means." 

In  1801:— 

"We  declare  that  we  are  more  than  ever  convinced  of  the  great 
evil  of  African  slavery,  which  still  exists  in  these  United  States." 

"  Every  member  of  the  society  who  sells  a  slave  shall,  imme- 
diately after  full  proof,  be  excluded  from  the  society,  &c." 

"  The  Annual  Conferences  are  directed  to  draw  up  addresses  for 
the  gradual  emancipation  of  the  slaves  to  the  legislature."  "Proper 
committees  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Annual  Conferences,  out  of 
the  most  respectable  of  our  friends,  for  the  conducting  of  the 
business ;  and  tne  presiding  elders,  deacons,  and  travelling 
preachers,  shall  procure  as  many  proper  signatures  as  possible  to 
the  addresses,  and  give  all  the  assistance  in  their  power,  in  every 
respect  to  aid  the  committees,  and  to  further  the  blessed  under- 
taking. Let  this  be  continued  from  year  to  year  until  the  desired 
end  be  accomplished." 

In  1836  the  General  Conference  met  in  May,  in  Cin- 
cinnati, a  town  of  46,000  inhabitants,  and  the  metropolis 
of  the  free  state  of  Ohio.  An  anti-slavery  society  had 
been  formed  there  a  year  or  two  before.  A  meeting  of 
the  society  was  appointed  for  the  evening  of  the  10th  of 
May,  to  which  the  abolitionists  attending  the  Conference 
as  delegates  were  invited.*  Of  those  who  attended,  two 
of  them  made  remarks  suitable  to  the  occasion.  On  the 
12th  of  May,  Kev.  S.  Gr.  Eoszell  presented  in  the  confer- 
ence the  following  preamble  and  resolutions  : — 

"  Whereas  great  excitement  has  pervaded  this  country  on  the 
subject  of  modern  abolitionism,  which  is  reported  to  have  been 
increased  in  this  city  recently  by  the  unjustifiable  conduct  of 
two  members  of  the  General  Conference  in  lecturing  upon,  and 
in  favor  of  that  agitating  topic; — and  whereas,  such  a  course  on 
the  part  of  any  of  its  members  is  calculated  to  bring  upon  this 
body  the  suspicion  and  distrust  of  the  community,  and  misrepre- 
sent its  sentiments  in  regard  to  the  point  at  issue  ; — and  whereas, 
in  this  aspect  of  the  case,  a  due  regard  for  its  own  character, 
as  well  as  a  just  concern  for  the  interests  of  the  church  confided 
to  its  care,  demand  a  full,  decided,  and  unequivocal  expression  of 
the  views  of  the  General  Conference  in  the  premises."  Therefore, 

*The  Rev.  Sir.  Lovejoy,  who  was  afterwards  slain  by  the  mob  in  defend- 
ing his  press  at  Alton,  Illinois,  was  present  at  the  meeting.  He  was  on  his 
way  from  St.  Louis,  where  he  then  resided,  to  Pittsburg,  to  attend  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 


16 

1.  Resolved, — 

"  By  the  delegates  of  the  Annual  Conference  in  General  Con- 
ference assembled,  that  they  disapprove  in  the  most  unqualified 
sense,  the  conduct  of  the  two  members  of  the  General  Conference 
who  are  reported  to  have  lectured  in  this  city  recently,  upon,  and 
in  favor  of,  modern  abolitionism." 

2.  Resolved, — 

"By  the  delegates  of  the  Annual  Conferences  in  General  Con- 
ference assembled, — that  they  are  decidedly  opposed  to  modern 
abolitionism,  and  wholly  disclaim  any  right,  wish,  or  intention 
to  interfere  in  the  civil  and  political  relation  between  master  and 
slave  as  it  exists  in  the  slave-holding  states  of  this  Union." 

The  preamble  and  resolutions  were  adopted, — the  first 
resolution  by  122  to  11,  the  last  by  120  to  14. 

An  address  was  received  from  the  Methodist  Wesleyan 
Conference  in  England  in  which  the  anti-Christian  char- 
acter of  slavery,  and  the  duty  of  the  Methodist  church 
was  plainly,  yet  tenderly  and  affectionately,  presented  for 
its  consideration.  The  Conference  refused  to  publish  it. 

In  the  Pastoral  Address  to  the  churches  are  these 
passages : 

"It  cannot  be  unknown  to  you  that  the  question  of  slavery  in 
the  United  States,  by  the  constitutional  compact  which  binds  us 
together  as  a  nation,  is  left  to  be  regulated  by  the  several  state 
legislatures  themselves,  and  thereby  is  put  beyond  the  control  of 
the  general  government  as  well  as  that  of  all  ecclesiastical  bodies, 
it  being  manifest  that  in  the  slave- holding  states  themselves  the 
entire  responsibility  of  its  existence  or  non-existence  rests  with 
those  state  legislatures.     .     .     .     .     .     .     These  facts,  which  are 

only  mentioned  here  as  a  reason  for  the  friendly  admonition 
.  which  we  wish  to  give  you,  constrain  us  as  your  pastors  who  are 
called  to  watch  over  your  souls  as  they  must  give  account,  to 
exhort  you  to  abstain  from  all  abolition  movements  and  associa- 
tions, and  to  refrain  from  patronizing  any  of  their  publications," 
&c.  .  .  "From  every  view  of  the  subject  which  we  have  been 
able  to  take,  and  from  the  most  calm  and  dispassionate  survey  of 
the  whole  ground,  we  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  only 
safe,  scriptural,  and  prudunt  way  for  us,  both  as  ministers  and  peo- 
ple, to  take,  is,  wholly  to  refrain  from  this  agitating  subject,"  &c. 

The  temper  exhibited  by  the  general  conference  was 
warmly  sympathized  in  by  many  of  the  local  conferences, 
not  only  in  the  slave  states  but  in  the  free. 

The  Ohio  Annual  Conference  had  a  short  time  before 

Resolved, — 

"1.  That  we  deeply  regret  the  proceedings  of  the  abolitionists 


17 

and  Anti-Slavery  Societies  in  the  free  states,  and  the  consequent 
excitement  produced  thereby  in  the  slave  states;  that  we,  as  a 
Conference,  disclaim  all  connection  and  cooperation  with  or  be- 
lief in  the  same;  and  that  we  hereby  recommend  to  our  junior 
"preachers,  local  brethren,  and  private  members  within  our 
bounds  to  abstain  from  any  connection  with  them,  or  participa- 
tion of  their  acts  in  the  premises  whatever." 

Resolved, — 

"2.  That  those  brethren  and  citizens  of  the  North  who  resist 
the  abolition  movements  with  firmness  and  moderation,  are  the 
true  friends  to  the  church,  to  the  slaves  of  the  South,  and  to  the 
constitution  of  our  common  country,"  &c. 

The  New  York  Annual  Conference  met  in  June,  1836, 
and 

Resolved, — 

"  1.  That  this  conference  fully  concur  in  the  advice  of  the  late 
General  Conference,  as  expressed  in  their  Pastoral  Address." 

Resolved, — 

"  2.  That  we  disapprove  of  the  members  of  this  conference  pat- 
ronizing or  in  any  way  giving  countenance  to  a  paper  called 
'Zion's  Watchman,'*  because  in  our  opinion  it  tends  to  disturb 
the  peace  and  harmony  of  the  body  by  sowing  dissensions  in  the 
church." 

Resolved, — 

"  3.  That  although  we  could  not  condemn  any  man  or  with- 
hold our  suffrages  from  him  on  account  of  his  opinions  merely,  in 
reference  to  the  subject  of  abolitionism,  yet  we  are  decidedly  of 
the  opinion  that  none  ought  to  be  elected  to  the  office  of  a  deacon 
or  elfier  in  our  church,  unless  he  give  a  pledge  to  the  conference 
that  he  will  refrain  from  agitating  the  church  with  discus- 
sions on  this  subject,  and  the  more  especially  as  the  one  promises 
'reverently  to  obey  them  to  whom  the  charge  and  government 
over  him  is  committed,  following  with  a  glad  mind  and  will, 
their  godly  admonitions:'  and  the  other  with  equal  solemnity, 
promises  to  'maintain  and  set  forward  as  much  as  lieth  in  him, 
quietness,  peace,  and  love  among  all  Christian  people,  and  es- 
pecially among  them  that  are,  or  shall  be  committed  to  his 
charge.'  ' 

In  1838  the  same  Conference,  Resolved, — 
"As  the  sense  of  this  conference,  that  any  of  its  members  or 
probationers,  who  shall  patronize  Zion's  Watchman,  either  by 
writing  in  commendation  of  its  character,  by  circulating  it,  re- 
commending it  to  (fur  people,  or  procuring  subscribers,  or  by  col- 
lecting or  remitting  monies,  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  indiscre- 
tion, and  dealt  with  accordingly." 

*Zion's  "Watchman  is  a  newspaper  devoted  to  the  anti-slavery  cause  and 
the  religious  interests  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church.  It  is  edited  by 
the  Rev.  La  Roy  Sunderland, 


18 

The  preachers — judging  by  the  vote  on  the  anti-aboli- 
tion resolutions — were  expected  of  course  to  conform  to 
the  advice  in  the  pastoral  address.  The  New  York  Con- 
ference, the  most  influential,  set  the  example  of  exacting 
a  pledge  from  the  candidates  for  orders  that  they  would 
not  agitate  the  subject  of  slavery  in  their  congregations. 
The  official  newspapers  of  the  connection  would,  of  course, 
be  silent.  Therefore,  as  a  measure  for  wholly  excluding 
the  slavery  question  from  the  church,  it  was  of  the  last 
importance  that  Zion's  Watchman,  an  unofficial  paper, 
and  earnest  in  the  anti-slavery  cause,  should  be  prevented 
from  circulating  among  the  members. 

Having  seen  in  what  spirit  the  conferences  of  the  free 
states  were  willing  to  act,  we  will  now  see  what  was  the 
temper  of  the  conferences  in  the  slave  states.  They  were 
not  under  the  same  necessity  as  the  free  state  conferen- 
ces, of  guarding  against  agitation  by  candidates  for  orders 
— for  in  the  slave  states  they  are  comparatively  few,  and 
being  brought  up  under  the  influences  of  slavery,  are  con- 
sidered sound  on  that  subject.  The  point  of  most  inter- 
est to  the  slayeholding  professors  of  religion  was  to  steel 
their  own  consciences. 

The  Baltimore  Conference  resolved  :. 

"That  in  all  cases  of  administration  under  the  general  rule  in 
reference  to  buying  and  [or]  selling  men,  women,  and  children, 
&c.,  it  be,  and  hereby  is  recommended  to  all  committees,  as  the 
sense  and  opinion  of  this  conference,  that  the  said  rule  be  taken, 
construed,  and  understood,  so  as  not  to  make  the  guilt  or  inno- 
cence of  the  accused  to  depend  upon  the  simple  fact  of  purchase 
or  sale  of  any  such  slave  or  slaves,  but  upon  the  attendant 
circumstances  of  cruelty,  injustice,  or  inhumanity  on  the  one 
band,  or  those  of  kind  purposes  or  good  intentions,  on  the  other, 
under  which  the  transactions  shall  have  been  perpetrated;  and 
farther,  it  is  recommended  that  in  all  such  cases  the  charge  be 
brought  for  immorality,  and  the  circumstances  adduced  as  speci- 
fications under  that  charge." 

THE  GEORGIA  ANNUAL  CONFERENCE. 

Resolved  unanimously  that :  . 

"  "Whereas,  there  is  a  clause  in  the  discipline  of  our  church, 
which  states  that  we  are  as  much  as  ever  convinced  of  the  great 
evil  of  slavery ;  and  whereas  the  said  clause  has  been  perverted 
by  some,  and  used  in  such  a  manner  as  to  produce  the  impression 
that  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  believed  slavery  to  be  a 
moral  evil." 


19 

Therefore,  Resolved, — 

"That  it  is  the  sense  of  the  Georgia  Annual  Conference  that 
slavery,  as  it  exists  in  the  United  States,  is  not  a  moral  evil." 

Resolved, — 

"That  we  view  slavery  as  a  civil  and  domestic  institution,  and 
one  with  which,  as  ministers  of  Christ,  we  have  nothing  to  do, 
further  than  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  slave  by  endeav- 
oring to  impart  to  him  and  his  master  the  benign  influences  »f 
the  religion  of  Christ,  and  aiding  both  on  their  way  to  Heaven." 

On  the  motion  it  was  resolved  unanimously, — 
"That  the  Georgia  Annual  Conference  regard  with  feelings  of 
profound  respect  and  approbation,  the  dignified  course  pursued 
by  our  several  superintendents  or  bishops  in  suppressing  the  at- 
tempts that  have  been  made  by  various  individuals  to  get  up  and 
protract  an  excitement  in  the  churches  and  country  on  the  subject 
of  abolitionism. 

Resolved,  further, — 

"That  they  shall  have  our  cordial  and  zealous  support  in  sus- 
taining them  in  the  ground  they  have  taken." 

SOUTH  CAROLINA  CONFERENCE. 

The  Rev.  W.  Martin  introduced  resolutions  similar  to 
those  of  the  Georgia  conference. 

The  Rev.  W.  Capers,  D.  D.,  after  expressing  his  con- 
viction that  "  the  sentiment  of  the  resolutions  was  univer- 
sally held,  not  only  by  the  ministers  of  that  conference, 
but  of  the  whole  South  ; "  and  after  stating  that  the  only 
true  doctrine  was,  "it  belongs  to  Caesar,  and  not  to  the 
church,"  offered  the  following  as  a  substitute : 

"Whereas,  we  hold  that  the  subject  of  slavery  in  these  United 
States  is  not  one  proper  for  the  action  of  the  church,  but  is  exclu- 
sively appropriate  to  the  civil  authorities," 

Therefore,  Resolved, — 

"That  this  conference  will  not  intermeddle  with  it,  farther 
than  to  express  our  regret  that  it  has  ever  been  introduced  in  any 
form  into  any  one  of  the  judicatures  of  the  church. 

"  Brother  Martin  accepted  the  substitute. 

"  Brother  Betts  asked  whether  the  substitute  was  intended  as 
implying  that  slavery  as  it  exists  among  us  was  not  a  moral  evil  ? 
He  understood  it  as  equivalent  to  such  a  declaration. 

"Brother  Capers  explained  that  his  intention  was  to  convey 
that  sentiment  fully  and  unequivocally  ;  and  that  he  had  chosen 
the  form  of  the  substitute  for  the  purpose,  not  only  of  reproving 
some  wrong  doings  at  the  North,  but  with  reference  also  to  the 
general  conference.  If  slavery  were  a  moral  evil  (that  is  sinful),  - 
the  church  would  be  bound  to  take  cognizance  of  it ;  but  our  affir- 


20 

mation  is  that  it  is  not  a  matter  for  her  jurisdiction,  but  is  exclu- 
sively appropriate  to  the  civil  government,  and  of  course  not  sin- 
ful. 

"  The  substitute  was  then  unanimously  adopted." 

SENTIMENTS  OF  NON-SLAVEHOLDING 

METHODIST  MINISTERS. 
Eev.  N.  Bangs,  D.  D.,  of  New  York  : 
"  It  appears  evident  that  however  much   the   apostles  might 
have  deprecated  SLAVERY  as  it  then  existed  throughout  the  Ko- 
man   empire,  he  did  not  feel  it  his  duty,  as   an  ambassador  of 
Christ,  to  disturb  those  relations  which  subsisted  between  master 
and  servants,  by  denouncing  slavery  as  such  a  mortal  sin  'that 
they  could  not  be  servants  of  Christ  in  such  a  relation.'.' 

Eev.  E.  D.  Simras,  Professor  in  Randolph  Macon  Col- 
lege, a  Methodist  institution  : 

"  These  extracts  from  HOLY  WRIT  UNEQUIVOCALLY  ASSERT  THE 
RIGHT  OF  PROPERTY  IN  SLAVES,  together  with  the  usual  incidents 
of  that  right;  such  as  the  power  of  acquisition  and  disposition  in 
various  ways,  according  to  municipal  regulations.  The  right  to 
buy  and  sell,  and  to  transmit  to  children  by  way  of  inheritance, 
is  clearly  stated.  The  only  restriction  on  the  subject  is  in  refer- 
ence to  the  market  in  which  slaves  or  bondsmen  were  to  be  pur- 
chased. 

"  Upon  the  whole,  then,  whether  we  consult  the  Jewish  polity, 
instituted  by  God  himself,  or  the  uniform  opinion  and  practice  of 
mankind  in  all  ages  of  the  world,  or  the  injunctions  of  the  New 
Testament  and  the  Moral  Law,  we  are  brought  to  the  conclusion 
that  slavery  is  not  immoral. 

"Having  established  the  point  that  the  first  African  slaves 
were  legally  brought  into  bondage,  the  right  to  detain  their  chil- 
dren in  bondage  follows  as  an  indispensable  consequence. 

"Thus  we  see  that  the  slavery  which  exists  in  America,  was 
founded  in  right." 

The  Eev.  Wilbur  Fisk,  D.  D.,  late  President  of  the 
[Methodist]  Wesleyan  University  in  Connecticut :  ' 

"The  relation  of  master  and  slave  may,  and  does,  in  many  cases, 
exist  under  such  circumstances,  as  free  the  master  from  the  just 
charge  and  guilt  of  immorality. 

"  1  Cor.  vii.  20-23. 

"This  text  seems  mainly  to  enjoin  and  sanction  the  fitting  con- 
tinuance of  their  present  social  relations  :  the  freeman  was  to  re- 
main free,  and  the  slave,  unless  emancipation  should  offer,  was  to 
remain  a  slave. 

"  The  general  rule  of  Christianity  not  only  permits,  but  in  sup- 
posable  circumstances,  enjoins  a  continuance  of  the  master's 
authority. 

"  The  New  Testament  enjoins  obedience  upon  the  slave  as  an 
obligation  due  to  a  present  rightful  authority." 


21 

Rev.  Elijah  Hedding,  D.  D.,  one  of  the  six  Methodist 
bishops : 

"  The  right  to  hold  a  slave  is  founded  on  this  rule,  '  Therefore, 
all  things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye 
even  so  to  them  :  for  this  is  the  law  and  the  prophets.'  " — Ch.  Ad. 
and  Journal,  Oct.  20,  1807. 

SENTIMENTS  OF  SLAVEHOLDING  METHO- 
DIST MINISTERS. 

The  Rev.  William  Winans,  of  Mississippi,  in  the  Gene- 
ral Conference,  in  1836 : 

"  He  was  not  born  in  a  slave  state — he  was  a  Pennsylvanian  by 
birth.  He  had  been  brought  up  to  believe  a  slaveholder  as  great 
a  villain  as  a  horse-thief;  but  he  had  gone  to  the  South,  and  long 
residence  there  had  changed  his  views ;  he  had  become  a  slave- 
holder on  principle."  ....  "Though  a  slaveholder  him- 
self, no  abolitionist  felt  more  sympathy  for  the  slave  than  he  did ; 
none  had  rejoiced  more  in  the  hope  of  a  coming  period,  when  the 
print  of  a  slave's  foot  would  not  be  seen  on  the  soil."  .  .  .  "It 
was  important  to  the  interests  of  slaves,  and  in  view  of  the  ques- 
tion of  slavery,  that  there  be  Christians  who  were  slaveholders. 
Christian  ministers  should  be  slaveholders,  and  diffused  through- 
out the  South.  Yes,  sir,  Presbyterians,  Baptists,  Methodists, 
should  be  slaveholders.  Yes,  he  repeated  it  boldly,  there  should 
be  members,  and  deacons,  and  ELDERS,  and  BISHOPS,  too,  who 
were  slaveholders." 

The  Rev.  J.  Early,  of  Virginia,  on  the  same  occasion : 

"Sis:  We  have  no  energy.  But  if  a  majority  of  this  conference 
have  no  energy,  not  enough  of  it  to  protect  their  own  honor  from 
insult  and  degradation,  be  it  known,  that  there  are  in  the  confer- 
ence those  who  have,  AND  WHO  OUGHT  TO  BE  BY  THEMSELVES. 
It  is  full  time- for  you,  sir,  to  speak  out,  to  testify  that  you  have 
some  regard  for  yourselves — to  say  that  you  have  some  regard  for 
your  honor.  Submit  to  this,  sir !  If  we  submit  to  this,  we  are 
prepared  to  submit  to  anything." 

The  Rev.  J.  H.  Thornwell,  at  a  public  meeting  held  in 
South  Carolina,  supported  the  following  resolutions  : 

"  That  slavery,  as  it  exists  in  the  South,  is  no  evil,  and  is  con- 
sistent with  the  principles  of  revealed  religion  ;  and  that  all  oppo- 
sition to  it  arises  from  a  misguided  and  fiendish  fanaticism,  which 
we  are  bound  to  resist  in  the  very  threshold. 

"  That  all  interference  with  this  subject  by  fanatics  is  a  viola- 
tion of  our  civil  and  social  rights,  is  unchristian  and  inhuman, 
leading  necessarily  to  anarchy  and  bloodshed  ;  and  that  the  insti- 
gators are  murderers  and  assassins. 

"That  any  interference  with  this  subject,  on  the  part  of  con- 
gress, must  lead  to  a  dissolution  of  the  Union." 


22 

The  Rev.  George  W.  Langhorne,  of  North  Carolina, 
thus  writes  to  the  editor  of  Zion's  Watchman,  under  date, 
June  25th,  1836. 

"I,  sir,  would  as  soon  be  found  in  the  ranks  of  a  banditti,  as 
numbered  with  Arthur  Tappan  and  his  wanton  coadjutors. 
Nothing  is  more  appalling  to  my  feelings  as  a  man,  contrary  to 
my  principles  as  a  Christian,  and  repugnant  to  my  soul  as  a 
minister,  than  the  insidious  proceedings  of  such  men. 

"If  you  have  not  resigned  your  credentials  as  a  minister  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church,  I  really  think  that,  as  an  honest  man, 
you  should  now  do  it.  In  your  ordination  vows  you  solemnly 
promised  to  be  obedient  to  those  who  have  rule  over  you ;  and 
since  they  [the  General  Conference]  have  spoken,  and  that  dis- 
tinctly, too,  on  this  subject,  and  disapprobate  your  conduct,  I  con- 
ceive you  are  bound  to  submit  to  their  authority  or  leave  the 
church." 

The  Rev.  J.  C.  Postell,  in  July,  1836,  delivered  an 
address  at  a  public  meeting  at  Orangeburgh  Court-house, 
S.  C.,  in  which  he  maintains  ;  1.  That  slavery  is  a  judi- 
cial visitation.  2.  That  it  is  not  a  moral  evil.  3.  That 
it  is  supported  by  the  Bible.  He  thus  argues  his  second 
point  : 

"It  is  not  a  moral  evil.  The  fact  that  slavery  is  of  Divine 
appointment  would  be  proof  enough,  with  the  Christian,  that  it 
could  not  be  a  moral  evil.  But  when  we  view  the  hordes  of  savage 
marauders  and  human  cannibals  enslaved  to  lust  and  passion,  and 
abandoned  to  idolatry  and  ignorance,  to  revolutionize  them  from 
such  a  state,  and  enslave  them  where  they  may  have  the  gospel, 
and  the  privileges  of  Christians,  so  far  from  being  a  moral  evil, 
it  is  a  merciful  visitation.  If  slavery  was  either  the  invention  of' 
man  or  a  moral  evil,  it  is  logical  to  conclude,  the  power  to  create 
has  the  power  to  destroy.  Why,  then,  has  it  existed?  And  why 
does  it  now  exist  amidst  all  the  power  of  legislation  in  state  and 
church,  and  the  clamor  of  abolitionists  ?  It  is  the  Lord's  DOINGS, 
AND  MARVELLOUS  IN  OUR  EYES,  and  had  it  not  been  done  for  the 
best,  God  alone,  who  is  able,  long  since  would  have  overruled  it. 

IT  IS  BY  DIVINE  APPOINTMENT." 

On  that  occasion  the  same  Rev.  gentleman  read  a  letter 
which  he  had  addressed  to  the  editor  of  Zion's  Watch- 
man, of  which  the  following  are  extracts  : 

"  To  La  Roy  Sunderland,  &c. 

"  Did  you  calculate  to  misrepresent  the  Methodist  Discipline,  and 
say  it  supported  abolitionism,  when  the  General  Conference,  in 
their  late  resolutions,  denounced  it  as  a  libel  on  truth?  '  Oh  full 
of  all  subtlety,  thou  child  of  the  devil!'  all  liars,  saith  the  sacred 
volume,  shall  have  their  part  in  the  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone. 

"  I  can  only  give  one  reason  why  you  have  not  been  indicted  for 
a  libel.  The  law  says,  'The  greater  the  truth,  the  greater  the 


23 

libel ;'  and  as  your  paper  has  no  such  ingredient,  it  is  construed 
but  a  small  matter.  But  if  you  desire  to  educate  the  slaves,  I  will 
tell  you  how  to  raise  the  money  without  editing  Zion's  Watch- 
man ;  you  and  old  Arthur  Tappan  come  out  to  the  South  this 
winter,  and  they  will  raise  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  you. 
New  Orleans  itself  will  be  pledged  for  it.  Desiring  no  further 
acquaintance  wi.h  you,,  and  never  expecting  to  see  you  but  once 
in  time  or  eternity,  that  is  at  judgment,  I  subscribe  myself,  the 
friend  of  the  Bible,  and  the  opposer  of  abolitionists. 

"  J.  C.  POSTELL, 
"Orangeburgh,  July  21st,  1836." 

THE  GENERAL  CONFERENCE  FOR  1840, 

HELD  ITS    SESSION  IN  MAY,  IN  BALTIMORE. 

The  Rev.  Silas  Comfort  appealed  from  a  decision  of  the 
Missouri  conference,  of  which  he  was  a  member.  That 
conference  had  convicted  him  of  u  maladministration,"  in 
admitting  the  testimony  of  a  colored  person  in  the  trial  of 
a  white  member  of  the  church.  The  General  Conference 
reversed  the  decision  of  the  Missouri  conference.  The 
Southern  delegates  insisted  on  something  being  done  to 
counteract  the  injurious  influence  which  the  reversal  would 
have  on  the  Methodist  church  in  the  slave  states. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  A.  J.  Few,  of  Georgia,  proposed  the 
following:  • 

Resolved, — 

"  That  it  is  inexpedient  and  unjustifiable  for  any  preacher  to 
permit  colored  persons  to  give  testimony  against  white  persons,  in 
any  state  where  they  are  denied  that  privilege  by  law." 

This  was  carried,  but  it  was  at  variance  with  the  deci- 
sion in  Comfort's  case.  The  Conference  saw  the  absurdity 
of  their  position,  and  that  something  must  be  done  to 
shift  it.  To  this  end,  it  was  thought  best  to  attempt 
getting  rid  of  the  whole  subject.  A  motion  was  made  to 
reconsider  the  decision  in  Comfort's^case,  with  a  view,  if 
it  should  be  carried,  to  another,  not  to  entertain  his  appeal. 
Should  this  latter  prevail,  a  motion  was  then  to  follow,  to 
reconsider  Dr.  Few's  resolution.  If  this  should  be  carried, 
by  another  motion  it  could  be  laid  on  the  table  and  kept 
there.  In  this  way  the  whole  matter  might  be  excluded. 

The  motion  to  reconsider  the  reversal  in  Comfort's  case 
was  carried.  So  was  the  motion,  not  to  entertain  his 


24 

appeal.  But  the  motion-  to  reconsider  Dr.  Few's  resolu- 
tion failed.  Pending  the  dehate  on  it,  one  of  the  Southern 
delegates, 

Rev.  William  A.  Smith,  of  Virginia,  [the  same  who, 
in  the  General  Conference  of  1836,  publicly  wished  the 
Rev.  Orange  Scott,  a  leading  abolitionist,  also  of  the 
General  Conference,  "in  heaven;"]  becoming  alarmed, 
lest  the  resolution  should  be  reconsidered  and  consigned 
to  the  table,  offered  the  following  compromise  as  a  sub- 
stitute : 


"That  the  resolution  offered  by  A.  J.  Few,  and  adopted  on 
Monday,  the  18th  instant,  relating  to  the  testimony  of  persons  of 
color,  be  reconsidered  and  amended  so  as  to  read  as  follows,  viz.: 
'  That  it  is  inexpedient  and  unjustifiable  for  any  preacher  among 
us  to  admit  of  persons  of  color  to  give  testimony  on  the  trial  of 
white  persona  in  any  slaveholding  state  where  they  are  denied  that 
privilege  in  trials  at  law.  Provided,  that  when  an  annual  confer- 
ence in  any  such  state  or  territory  shall  judge  it  expedient  to 
admit  of  the  introduction  of  such  testimony  within  its  bounds,  it 
shall  be  allowed  so  to  do.'  " 

However,  the  Southern  delegates  being  unanimous 
(with  the  single  exception  of  the  Rev.  mover),  and  hav- 
ing the  aid  of  some  of  the  most  devoted  of  the  pro-slavery 
Northern  delegates,  the  substitute  was  lost  by  an  even 
vote. 

The  efforts  made  to  "  harmonize"  the  slaveholding  and 
the  non-slaveholding  delegates,  had  thus  far  failed.  It 
was  not,  however,  abandoned.  With  that  view,  Bishop 
Soule,  acting  as  the  representative  of  the  other  bishops, 
introduced  three  resolutions.  We  have  not  been  able  to 
procure  a  copy  of  them.  In  Zion's  Watchman,  we  find 
them  substantially  stated  thus  : 

1.  "The  action  of  the  General  Conference  in  the  Comfort  case 
was  not  intended  to  express  or  imply  that  it  was  either  expedient 
or  justifiable  to  admit  the  testimony  .of  colored  persons  in  states 
where  such  testimony  is  rejected  by  the  civil  authorities. 

2.  "  It  was  not  intended,  by  the  adoption  of  Dr.  Few's  resolu- 
tion, to  prohibit  the  admission  of  it  when  the  civil  authorities  or 
usage  authorizes  its  admission. 

3.  "Expresses  the  undiminished regard  of  the  General  Confer- 
ence for  the  colored  population." 

Immediately  on  the  passage  of  Dr.  Few's  resolution, 
the  "  official  members  (forty-six  in  number)  of  the  Sharp 


r  25 

Street  and  Asbury  Colored  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
in  Baltimore,"  protested  and  petitioned  against  it.  The 
following  passages  are  in  their  address  : 

"The  adoption  of  such  a  resolution  by  our  highest  ecclesiasti- 
cal judicatory,  a  judicatory  composed  of  the  most  experienced 
and  wisest  brethren  in  the  church,  the  choice  selection  of  twenty- 
eight  annual  conferences,  has  inflicted,  we  fear,  an  irreparable  in- 
jury upon  eighty  thousand  souls  for  whom  Christ  died — souls,  who 
by  this  act  of  your  body,  have  been  stript  of  the  dignity  of  Chris- 
tians, degraded  in  the  scale  of  humanity,  and  treated  as  criminals 
for  no  other  reason  than  the  color  of  their  skin  !  Your  resolution 
has,  in  our  humble  opinion,  virtually  declared  that  a  mere  physi- 
cal peculiarity,  the  handy  work  of  our  all-wise  and  benevolent 
Creator,  is  prima  facie  evidence  of  incompetency  to  tell  the  truth, 
or  is  an  unerring  indication  of  un  worthiness  to  bear  testimony 
against  a  fellow-being  whose  skin  is  denominated  white.  .  .  . 

"  Brethren,  out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart  we  have  spoken. 
Our  grievance  is  before  you!  If  you  have  any  regard  for  the  sal- 
vation of  the  eighty  thousand  immortal  souls  committed  to  your 
care;  if  you  would  not  thrust  beyond  the  pale  of  the  church, 
twenty-five  hundred  souls  in  this  city,  who  have  felt  determined 
never  to  leave  the  church  that  has  nourished  and  brought  them 
up  ;  if  you  regard  us  as  children  of  one  common  Father,  and  can, 
upon  reflection,  sympathize  with  us  as  members  of  the  body  of 
Christ — if  you  would  not  incur  the  fearful,  the  tremendous  re- 
sponsibility of  offending  not  only  one,  but  many  thousands  of  his 
'little  ones;'  we  conjure  you  to  wipe  from  your  journal,  the 
odious  resolution  which  is  ruining  our  people." 

"A  Colored  Baltimorean,"  writing  to  the  editor  of 
Zion's  Watchman,  says  : 

"  The  address  was  presented  to  one  of  the  secretaries,  a  delegate 
of  the  Baltimore  conference,  and  subsequently  given  by  him  to 
the  bishops.  How  many  of  the  members  of  the  conference  saw 
it,  I  know  not.  One  thing  is  certain,  it  was  not  read  to  the  con- 
feretice." 

SENTIMENTS  EXPRESSED  BUSING  THE 
DEBATES. 

Rev.  W.  Capers,  D.  D.,  of  Charleston,  S.  Carolina, 
"  Valued  the  quotations  which  had  been  made  from  the  early 
disciplines  and  minutes;  there  was  no  kind  of  property  that  he 
valued  so  high  as  the  works  which  contained  them  ;  they  were 
the  monuments  of  that  primitive  Methodism  which  he  loved.  • 
He  then  read  from  the  minutes  of  1780,  '84,  and  '85,  and  at- 
tempted to  show  from  the  smallness  of  the  church,  and  the  little 
Connexion  that  it  had  with  slavery  in  1780,  that  it  adopted  the 
language  which  was  precisely  consistent  with  its  circumstances, 
and  just  such  language  as  he  would  adopt  under  similar  circum- 


26 

stances;  but  in  1784  and  '85,  when  the  church  had  extended  fur- 
ther, and  became  more  entangled  with  slavery,  there  was  a  cor- 
responding faltering  in  the  language  of  the  church  against  it. 
But  in  181)0  the  church  fell  into  a  great  error  on  this  subject — an 
error  which  he  had  no  doubt  those  who  were  so  unfortunate  as  to 
fall  into,  very  deeply  deplored.  The  conference  authorized  ad- 
dresses to  the  legislatures,  and  memorials  to  be  circulated  by  all 
our  ministers,  and  instructed  them  to  continue  those  measures 
from  year  to  year,  till  slavery  was  abolished.  He  had  no  doubt 
that  the  men  engaged  in  this  work  were  sincere  and  pious,  but 
they  soon  perceived  that  it  was  a  great  error,  and  abandoned  it. 
.  He  thanked  the  brother  from  Canada  (Rev.  Egerton  Ryer- 
son),  for  the  strong  sympathy  he  had  expressed  for  Southern  in- 
stitutions. .  .  Notwithstanding  the  representations  that  a  part 
of  the  discipline  was  a  dead  letter  in  the  South,  yet  he  assured 
them  that  they  received  the  whole  of  it — they  were  under  the 
whole  of  it — acknowledged  it  all, — but,  said  he,  you  must  tuke 
heed  what  discipline  you  make  for  us  now;  if  the  chapter  on 
slavery  had  not  long  been  in  the  di-cipline,  you  could  not  put  it 
there  now.  I  repeat,  therefore,  you  must  beware  what  laws  you 
make  for  us  !  You  may  easily  adopt  such  measures  as  will  effect- 
ually hedge  up  our  way,  and  make  us  slaves.  We  cannot  be 
made  slaves;  beware,  therefore,  I  say,  what  discipline  you-  give 
us!  Be  CAUTIOUS  what  burthens  you  impose  upon  us!  We 
know  what  our  work  is, — it  is  to  preach  and  pray  for  the  slaves." 

Rev.  Mr.  Crowder  of  Virginia  : 

"In  its  civil  aspect,  neither  the  general  government,  or  any 
other  government,  ecclesiastical  or  civil,  either  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, has  a  right  to  touch  slavery."  In  its  ecclesiastical  aspect, 
"we  are  bound  by  the  twenty-third  article  of  our  religion  to  sub- 
mit to  the  civil  regulations  of  the  state  under  which  we  live."  In 
its  moral  aspect,  "Slavery  was  not  only  countenanced,  permitted, 
and  regulated  by  the  Bible,  but  it  was  positively  instituted  by 
GOD  HIMSELF — he  had  in  so  many  words  UNJOINED  it." 

The  Rev.  Joshua  Soule,  D.  D.,  of  Ohio  (one  of  the 
bishops),  in  advocating  the  reconsideration  of  the  de- 
cision in  Comfort's  case,  said  : 

"  It  will  be  recollected  by  brethren  that  the  Missouri  confer- 
ence fixed  no  censure — not  a  particle  of  censure  upon  the  charac- 
ter of  Silas  Comfort ;  the  law,  .therefore,  would  not  justify  an 
appeal  to  this  body.  If  that  unfortunate  word  'mal-administra- 
tion,'  had  not  been  used  in  connection  with  the  case,  it  would 
never  have  found  its  way  here."  "I  do  not  express  merely  my 
own  opinion  in  this  case;  it  is  the  united  opinion  of  your  super- 
intendents (bishops),  and  it  is  by  their  request  that  I  address  you 
on  this  occasion." 

Rev.  Mr.  Peck,  of  New  York,  who  moved  the  recon- 
sideration of  Dr.  Few's  resolution  : 

«'  That  resolution,  said  he,  was  introduced  under  peculiar  cir- 


27 

cumstances,  during  considerable  excitement,  and  he  went  for  it 
as  a  peace-offering  to  the  South,  without  sufficiently  reflecting 
upon  the  precise  import  of  its  phraseology;  but  after  a  little  de- 
liberation, he  was  sorry,  and  he  had  been  sorry  but  once,  and 
that  was  all  the  time;  he  was  convinced  that,  if  that  resolution 
remain  upon  the  journal,  it  would  be  disastrous  to  the  whole  North- 
ern church." 

Rev.  Dr.  A.  J.  Few  of  Georgia,  the  mover  of  the  origi- 
nal resolution  : 

"  Look  at  it !  What  do  you  declare  to  us  in  taking  this 
course  ?  Why,  simply  as  much  as  to  say,  '  we  cannot  sustain 
you  in  the  condition  which  you  cannot  avoid  ! '  We  cannot  sus- 
tain you  in  the  necessary  conditions  of  slaveholding;  one  of  its  nec- 
o.-*iiry  conditions  being  the  rejection  of  negro  testimony.  If  it  is 
not  sinful  to  hold  slaves  under  all  circumstances,  it  is  not  sinful 
to  hold  them  in  the  only  condition,  and  under  the  only  circum- 
stances, which  they  can  be  held.  The  rejection  of  negro  testi- 
mony is  one  of  the  necessary  circumstances  under  which  slave- 
holding  can  exist;  indeed,  it  is  utterly  impossible  for  it  to  exist 
without  it ;  therefore  it  is  not  sinful  to  hold  slaves  in  the  condi- 
tion and  under  the  circumstances  which  they  are  held  at  the 
South,  inasmuch  as  they  can  be  held  under  no  other  circum- 
stances. :  .  If  you  believe  that  slaveholding  is  necessarily 
sinful,  come  out  with  the  abolitionists  and  honestly  say  so.  If 
you  believe  that  slaveholding  is  necessarily  sinful,  you  believe 
we  are  necessarily  sinners  :  and,  if  so,  come  out  and  honestly  de- 
clare it,  and  let  us  leave  you.  .  .  We  want  to  know  distinctly, 
precisely,  and  honestly  the  position  which  you  take.  We  cannot 
be  tampered  with  by  you  any  longer.  We  have  had  enough  of 
it.  We  are  tired  of  your  sickly  sympathies.  .  .  If  you  are 
not  opposed  to  the  principles  which  it  involves,  unite  with  us, 
like  honest  men,  and  go  home  and  boldly  meet  the  consequences. 
We  say  again,  you  are  responsible  for  this  state  of  things,  for  it  is 
you  who  have  driven  us  to  the  alarming  point  where  we  find  our- 
selves. .  .  You  have  made  that  resolution  absolutely  necessary 
to  the  quiet  of  the  South  !  But  you  new  revoke  that  resolution  ! 
And  you  pass  the  Kubicon  !  Let  me  not  be  misunderstood.  I 
say  you  pass  the  Rubicon  !  If  you  revoke,  you  revoke  the  prin- 
ciple which  that  resolution  involves,  and  you  array  the  whole 
South  against  you,  and  ice  must  separate!  .  .  If  you  accede  to 
the  principles  which  it  involves,  arising  from  the  necessity  of  the 
case,  stick  by  it,  'though  the  heavens  perish  !  '  But  if  you  per- 
sist on  reconsideration,  I  ask  in  what  light  will  your  course  be 
regarded  in  the  South  ?  What  will  be  the  conclusion  there,  in 
reference  to  it  ?  Why,  that  you  cannot  sustain  us  as  long  as  we 
nold  slaves  !  It  will  declare  in  the  face  of  the  sun,  '  we  cannot 
sustain  you,  gentlemen,  while  you  retain  your  slaves  ! '  Your 
opposition  to  the  resolution  is  based  upon  your  opposition  to 
slavery  ;  you  cannot,  therefore,  maintain  your  consistency,  unless 
you  come  out  with  the  abolitionists,  and  condemn  us  at  ence  and 
forever;  or  else  refuse  to  reconsider." 


28 

The  Eev.  William  Winans  of  Mississippi  (the  same 
who  was  a  delegate  to  the  general  conference  in  1836): 

"  He  was  never  more  deeply  impressed  with  the  solemnity  of 
his  situation — the  act  of  this  afternoon  will  determine  the  fate  of 
our  beloved  Zion  !  .  .  "Will  you  meet  us  half  way  ?  Have  you 
the  magnanimity  to  consent  to  a  compromise  ?  I  pledge  myself, 
in  behalf  of  every  Southern  man,  that  if  you  will  affirm  the  de- 
cision in  the  case  of  Silas  Comfort,  we  will  give  up  the  resolu- 
tion ;  but  if  you  refuse  to  affirm,  and  wrest  from  us  that  resolu- 
tion, you  stab  us  to  the  vitals  !  .  .  Kepeal  that  resolution,  and 
you  pass  the  Rubicon  !  Dear  as  union  is,  sir,  there  are  interests 
at  stake  in  this  question  which  are  dearer  than  union  !  Do  not 
regard  us  as  threatening!  .  .  .  But  what  will  become  of  our 
beloved  Methodism?  The  interests  of  Methodism  throughout 
the  whole  South  are  at  stake  !  We  can,  however,  endure  to  see 
the  houses  of  God  forsaken,  and  our  wide-extended  and  beautiful 
fields,  which  we  have  long  been  cultivating,  laid  waste  and 
turned  into  a  moral  wilderness.  But  what  is  to  become  of  the 
poor  slave?  I  entreat  of  you  to  pause!  You  effectually  shut  out 
the  consolations  and  hopes  of  the  gospel  from  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  poor  slaves.  .  .  I  call  heaven  to  record  against 
you  this  day,  that  if  you  repeal  that  resolution,  you  seal  the  dam- 
nation of  thousands  of  souls!  I  beseech  you  as  upon  my  knees 
not  to  do  it." 

The  Eev.  Mr.  Collins,  of , 

"Admonished  the  conference,  that  the  moment  they  rescinded 
that  resolution,  they  passed  the  Rubicon.  The  fate  of  the  con- 
nexion was  sealed." 

The  Rev.  William  A.  Smith,  of  Virginia, 
"Agreed  with  the  brother  from  Mississippi,  that  there  were  in- 
terests involved  in  this  question  dearer  than  UNION  itself,  how- 
ever dear  that  might  be.  Southerners  are  not  prepared  to  commit 
their  interests,  much  less  their  consciences,  to  the  holy  keeping 
of  Northern  men.  Conscience  was  involved  in  this  matter,  and 
they  could  not  be  coerced." 

Rev.  Nathan  Bangs,  D.  D.,  of  New  York : 
"  We  were  on  a  snag,  and  he  believed  he  could  help  us  offi 
He  perceived  a  way  to  get  out  of  the  difficulty,  and  proceeded  to 
read  three  resolutions,  one  of  which  went  to  affirm  the  decision  of 
the  Missouri  conference  in  the  Comfort  case.  He  concluded  with 
a  proposition  to  refer  the  whole  case  to  a  committee,  to  see  if 
something  could  not  be  done  to  harmonize  the  conference." 

Rev.  P.  P.  Sanford,  of : 

"  Brethren  spoke  as  though  there  were  no  interests  involved  in 
this  question  but  Southern  and  Western,  but  he  could  assure  breth- 
ren of  their  entire  mistake.  The  North  and  East  were  as  deeply 
concerned  in  the  issue  of  this  question  as  the  West  and  South.  . 
He  was  surprised  at  the  course  of  Dr.  Bangs,  who,  when  the 


29 

Missouri  case  was  pending,  retired  without  the  bar,  and  thus 
dodged  the  question  ;  and  when  Dr.  Few's  resolution  was  passed, 
he  sat  still  in  bis  chair,  and  refused  to  do  his  duty,  but  now  he 
comes  forward  with  a  series  of  resolutions  entirely  inconsistent 
with  all  the  facts  in  the  case,  with  the  very  benevolent  intention 
to  enlighten  us  on  the  subject !  !  But  what  does  he  say  ? 
Why,  he  declares  that  he  believes  that  this  conference  ought  to 
affirm  the  decision  of  the  Missouri  conference  in  the  case  of  Silas 
Comfort!  And  what  was  that  decision?  Why,  that  it  is  mal- 
administration to  admit  the  testimony  of  a  colored  man  in  the 
trial  of  a  white  man!  So  that  Comfort  was  condemned,  as  ap- 
pears from  the  journals  of  that  conference,  solely  for  admitting 
the  testimony  of  a  colored  man  !  And  Dr.  Bangs  is  the  man  who 
declares  upon  this  floor,  that  that  decision  ought  to  be  affirmed  by 
this  conference!  !  He  was  perfectly  astounded!  Brethren  talk 
of  compromise  !  Is  there  any  compromise  in  this?  " 

Bishop  Soule  spoke  in  favor  of  the  compromise  resolu- 
tions of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Smith': 

"  It  was  in  view  of  the  vast  but  jeoparded  interests  of  our  beloved 
Zion  :  with  a  view  to  promote  the  union  of  our  extended  ecclesi- 
astical confederation,  that  he  ventured  to  speak  on  the  present 
occasion.  He  would  lay  one  hand  upon  the  North  and  East,  and 
the  other  upon  the  South,  and  constrain  them  to  harmonize.  He 
had  listened  to  the  speeches  of  brethren,  and  he  perceived  that  the 
waters  were  troubled,  but  he  was  not  alarmed ;  our  ship  is  not 
wrecked,  and  he  had  no  doubt  but  that  we  should  bring  her  safe 

through He  had  listened  to  the  intimations  of  the 

possible  necessity  of  adopting  this  measure,  but  brethren  had 
approached  so  near  together  that  they  only  appeared  to  differ  as 
to  the  modus  operandi  of  doing  the  thing  which  all  seemed  to 
agree  should  be  done.  He  could  not,  therefore,  believe  that  breth- 
ren were  in  earnest  in  intimating  the  probability  of  a  division  [of 
the  church]  on  so  trifling  an  occasion.  He  had  heard  the  appeals 
from  brethren  of  the  South  with  unmingled  sympathy,  because 
he  was  acquainted  with  the  South ;  he  was  familiar  with  the 
difficulties  which  brethren  from  that  region  struggled  with.  . 
We  are  in  danger  of  forgetting  that  men  born  in  the  South  are 
much  better  qualified  to  judge  of  the  bearing  which  particular 
measures  will  have  upon  that  region  lhan  those  of  the  North  can 
be.  He  thanked  the  brother  from  Georgia  (Dr.  Few)  for  his  kind 
allusion  to  him,  and  regretted  that  he  was  understood  to  take 
ground  against  the  Dr.,  for  he  agreed  with  him  entirely.  .  .  The 
brethren  from  the  South  came  forward  with  all  that  frankness 
which  characterizes  Southern  men — I  say,  with  all  that  frankness 
iv hich  characterizes  Southern  men,  for  this  is  a  distinguishing  trait 
in  their  character — and  propose  a  conciliatory  plan,  which  he 
thought  could  not  fail  to  harmonize  the  great  majority  ;  I  say,  the 
great  majority,  for  I  despair  of  giving  satisfaction  to  all.  .  .  He 
could  not  possibly  see  an  objectionable  feature  in,  or  any  favorable 
effect  that  would"  be  likely  to  result  from,  adopting  them,  either 


30 

in  the  North  or  South.  Does  any  one  think  that  they  may  be 
disastrously  used  in  the  North,  in  favor  of  modern  abolitionism  ? 
I  neither  see  it  nor  fear  it.  Permit  me  to  say  to  the  members  of 
this  General  Conference  who  are  connected  with  the  abolition 
movements,  that  the  brethren  at  the  South  are  better  judges,  cir- 
cumstanced as  they  are,  than  you  can  possibly  be,  in  regard  to 

every  thing  connected    with  slavery Surveying 

the  whole  ground  of  this  unfortunate  affair,  and  where  is  the  man 
who  dare  come  to  the  conclusion  that  sufficient  reasons  have  been 
developed  in  this  controversy  for  dividing  the  body  of  Christ." 

THE  BAPTIST   CHUKCH. 

(500,000  Members.) 

In  1835,  the  Charleston  Baptist  Association  addressed 
a  memorial  to  the  legislature  of  South  Carolina,  which 
contains  the  following : 

"The  undersigned  would  further  represent,  that  the  said  asso- 
ciation does  not  consider  that  the  holy  scriptures  have  made  the 
fact  of  slavery  a  question  of  morals  at  all.  The  Divine  Author 
of  our  holy  religion,  in  particular,  found  slavery  a  part  of  the 
existing  institutions  of  society ;  with  which,  if  not  sinful,  it  was 
not  his  design  to  intermeddle,  but  to  leave  them  entire!}'  to  the 
control  of  men.  Adopting  this,  therefore,  as  one  of  the  allowed 
arrangements  of  society,  he  made  it  the  province  of  his  religion 
only  to  prescribe  the  reciprocal  duties  of  the  relation.  The  ques- 
tion, it  is  believed,  is  purely  one  of  political  economy.  It  amounts, 
in  effect,  to  this:  Whether  the  operatives  of  a  country  shall  be 
bought  and  sold,  and  themselves  become  property,  as  in  this  state ; 
or  whether  they  shall  be  hirelings,  and  their  labor  only  become 
property,  as  in  some  other  states.  In  other  words,  whether  an 
employer  may  buy  the  whole  time  of  laborers  at  once,  of  those 
who  have  a  right  to  dispose  of  it,  with  a  permanent  relation  of 
protection  and  care  over  them,  or,  whether  he  shall  be  restricted 
to  buy  it  in  certain  portions  only,  subject  to  their  control,  and 
with  no  such  permanent  relation  of  care  and  protection.  The 
right  of  masters  to  dispose  of  the  time  of  their  slaves  has  been  dis- 
tinctly recognized  by  the  Creator  of  all  things,  who  is  surely  at 
liberty  to  vest  the  right  of  property  over  any  object  in  whomso- 
ever He  pleases.  That  the  lawful  possessor  should  retain  this 
right  at  will,  is  no  more  against  the  laws  of  society  and  good 
morals,  than  that  ho  should  retain  the  personal  endowments  with 
which  his  Creator  has  blessed  him,  or  the  money  and  lands  inher- 
ited from  his  ancestors,  or  acquired  by  his  industry.  And  neither 
society  nor  individuals  have  any  more  authority  to  demand  a 
relinquishment  without  an  equivalent,  in  the  one  case  than  in 
the  other. 

"  As  it  is  a  question  purely  of  political  economy,  and  one  which 
in  this  country  is  reserved  to  the  cognizance  of  the  state  govern- 
ments severally,  it  is  further  believed  that  the  state  of  South  Car- 
olina alone  has  the  right  to  regulate  the  existence  and  condition 


31 

of  slavery  within  her  territorial  limits;  and  we  should  resist  to 
the  utmost  every  invasion  of  this  right,  come  from  what  quarter 
and  under  whatever  pretence  it  may." 

In  1835,  the  following  query,  referring  to  slaves,  was 
presented  to  the  Savannah.  River  Baptist  Association  of 
Ministers  : 

"  Whether,  in  case  of  involuntary  separation  of  such  a  charac- 
ter as  to  preclude  all  prospect  of  future  intercourse,  the  parties 
ought  to  be  allowed  to  marry  again  ?" 

Answer, — 

"That  such  separation  among  persons  situated  as  our  slaves 
are,  is  civilly  a  separation  by  death,  and  they  believe  that,  in  the 
sight  of  God,  it  would  be  so  viewed.  To  forbid  second  marriages 
in  such  cases  would  be  to  expose  the  parties,  not  only  to  stronger 
hardships  and  strong  temptations,  but  to  church  censure,  for  act- 
ing in  obedience  to  their  masters,  who  cannot  be  expected  to  ac- 
quiesce in  a  regulation  at  variance  with  justice  to  the  slaves,  and 
to  the  spirit  of  that  command  which  regulates  marriage  among 
Christians.  The  slaves  are  not  free  agents,  and  a  dissolution  by 
death  is  not  more  entirely  without  their  consent,  and  beyond 
their  control,  than  by  such  separation." 

Sept.,  1835.  The  ministers  and  messengers  of  the  Gos- 
lien  Association,  assembled  at  Free  Union,  Virginia,  state  : 

"  The  most  of  us  have  been  born  and  brought  up  in  the  midst 
of  this  population.  Very  many  of  us,  too,  have  been  ushered 
into  life  under  inauspicious  circumstances,  having  no  patrimo- 
nies to  boast,  and  inheriting  little  else  from  our  parents  but 
an  existence  and  a  name.  We  have,  however,  through  the  bless- 
ing of  God,  by  a  persevering  course  of  industry  and  rigid  econ- 
omy, acquired  a  competent  support  for  ourselves  and  families; 
and  as  a  reward  for  our  laborious  exertion  we  received  such  prop- 
erty [slaves]  as  was  guaranteed  to  us  not  only  by  the  laws  of  our 
individual  states,  but  by  those  of  the  United  States.  In  consid- 
eration whereof  we  unanimously  adopt  the  following  resolutions  :" 

1.  Resolved, — 

"  That  we  consider  our  right  and  title  to  this  property  altogeth- 
er legal  and  bonafide,  and  that  it  is  a  breach  of  the  faith,  pledged 
in  the  federal  constitution,  for  our  Northern  brethren  to  try,  either 
directly  or  indirectly,  to  lessen  the  value  of  this  property  or  im- 
pair our  title  thereto." 

2.  Resolved, — 

"  That  we  view  the  torch  of  the  incendiary  and  the  dagger  ol 
the  midnight  assassin  loosely  concealed  under  the  specious  garb 
of  humanity  and  religion  falsely  so  called." 

3.  Resolved, — 

"That  we  consider  there  is  something  radically  wrong  in  the 
logic  of  those  would-be  philanthropists  at  the  North,  who  lay  it 


32 

down  as  one  of  their  main  propositions  that  they  must  do  what 
is  right,  regardless  of  consequences,  inasmuch  as  they  will  not 
venture  to  come  this  side  of  the  Potomac  to  teach  and  lecture 
publicly,  where  (they  say)  this  crying  evil  exists." 

SENTIMENTS  OF  INDIVIDUAL  BAPTISTS. 

The  late  Eev.  Lucius  Bolles,  D.  D.,  of  Massachusetts, 
Cor.  Sec.  Am.  Bap.  Board  for  Foreign  Missions: 

(1834)  "  There  is  a  pleasing  degree  of  union  among  the  multi- 
plying thousands  of  Baptists  throughout  the  land.  .  .  .  Our 
Southern  brethren  are  generally,  both  ministers  and  people, 
slaveholders." 

Rev.  R.  Furman,  D.  D.,  of  South  Carolina : 
"  The  right  of  holding  slaves  is  clearly  established  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  both  by  precept  and  example." — Exposition  of  the,  views 
of  the  Baptists,  addressed  to  the  Governor  of  S.  Carolina,  1833." 

Dr.  Furman  died  not  long  afterward.  His  legal  repre- 
sentatives thus  advertise  his  property  for  sale : 

"  Notice. 

"On  the  firs.t  Monday  of  February  next,  will  be  put  up  at  pub- 
lic auction,  before  the  court  house,  the  following  property,  belong- 
ing to  the  estate  of  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  FURMAJST,  viz.: 

"A  plantation  or  tract  of  land  on  and  in  the  Wataree  Swamp. 
A  tract  of  the  first  quality  of  fine  land,  on  the  waters  of  Black 
Kiver.  A  lot  of  land  in  the  town  of  Camden.  A  LIBRARY  of  a 
miscellaneous  character,  CHIEFLY  THEOLOGICAL. 

27  NEGROES, 

Some  of  them  very  prime.  Two  mules,  one  horse,  and  an  old 
wagon." 

THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 
(350,000  Members.) 

In  1793,  the  General  Assembly,  not  very  long  after  it 
was  organized,  adopted  the  " judgment"  of  the  New 
York  and  Philadelphia  Synods,  in  favor  of  "universal 
liberty."  In  1794  it  adopted  the  following  as  a  note  to 
the  eighth  commandment,  as  expressing  the  doctrine  of 
the  church  on  slaveholding : 

"  1  Tim.  i.  10.  The  law  is  made  for  MAN-STEALERS.  This 
crime  among  the  Jews  exposed  the  perpetrators  of  it  to  capital 
punishment;  Exodus  xxi.  15;  and  the  apostle  here  classes  them 
with  sinners  of  the  first  rank.  The  word  he  uses,  in  its  original 
import,  comprehends  all  who  are  concerned  in  bringing  any  of 
the  human  race  into  slavery,  or  in  retaining  them  init.  Hominum 
fures,  qui  servos  vel  liberos  abducunt,  retinent,  vendunt,  vel  emunt. 
Stealers  of  men  are  all  those  who  bring  off  slaves  or  freemen,  and 
KEEP,  SELL,  or  BUY  THEM.  To  steal  a  freeman,  says  Grotius,  is 
the  highest  kind  of  theft.  In  other  instances,  we  only  steal  hu- 


33 

man  property,  but  when  we  steal,  or  retain  men  in  slavery,  we 
seize  those  who,  in  common  with  ourselves,  are  constituted  by  the 
original  grant  lords  of  the  earth." 

But  the  church  contented  itself  with  recording  its  doc- 
trine. No  rules  of  discipline  were  enforced.  The  slave- 
holders remained  in  the  church,  adding  slave  to  slave, 
unmolested  ;  not  only  unmolested,  but  bearing  the  offices 
of  the  church.  In  1816  the  General  Assembly,  while  it 
called  slavery  "a  mournful  evil,"  directed  the  ERASURE 
of  the  note  to  the  eighth  commandment.  In  1818,  it 
adopted  an  "EXPRESSION  OF  VIEWS,"  in  which  slavery  is 
called  "  a  gross  violation  of  the  most  precious  and  sacred 
rights  of  human  nature,"  but  instead  of  requiring  the 
instant  abandonment  of  this  "  violation  of  rights,"  the 
Assembly  exhorts  the  violators  "to  continue  and  increase 
their  exertions  to  effect  a  total  abolition  of  slaver3T,  with 
no  greater  delay  than  a  regard  to  the  public  welfare  de- 
mands;" and  recommends  that  if  a  "  Christian  professor 
shall  sell  a  slave  who  is  also  in  communion  with  our 
church,"  without  the  consent  of  the  slave,  the  seller  should 
be  "  suspended  till  he  should  repent  and  make  reparation." 

The  reality  of  slavery  in  the  Presbyterian  church,  since 
1S1*,  may  be  known  from  the  following  testimonies  : 

The  Rev.  James  Smylie,  A.  M.,  of  the  Amite  Presby- 
tery, Mississippi,  in  a  pamphlet  published  by  him  a  short 
time  ago  in  favor  of  American  slavery,  says  : 

"If  slavery  be  a  sin,  and  advertising  and  apprehending  slaves, 
with  a  view  to  restore  them  to  their  masters,  is  a  direct  violation 
of  the.  Divine  law,  and  if  the  buying,  selling,  or  holding  a  slave 
FOR  THE  SAKE  OF  GAIN,  is  a  heinous  sin  and  scandal,  then,  verily, 

THREE-FOURTHS     OF     ALL    THE      EPISCOPALIANS,    METHODISTS, 

BAPTISTS,  and  PRESBYTERIANS  in  ELEVEN  STATES  OF  THE 
UNION,  are  of  the  devil.  They  '  hold,'  if  they  do  not  buy  and 
sell  slaves,  and,  with  few  exceptions,  they  hesitate  not  to  '  appre- 
liend  and  restore'  runaway  slaves,  when  in  their  power." 

In  1834  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  appointed  a  committee 
of  twelve  to  report  on  the  condition,  &c.,  of  the  slaves. 
This  passage  occurs  in  the  report : 

"  Brutal  stripes  and  ail  the  various  kinds  of  personal  indignities 
are  not  the  only  species  of  cruelty  which  slavery  licenses  The  law 
does  not  recognise  the  family  relations  of  the  slave,  and  extends  to 
him  no  protection  in  the  enjoyment  of  domestic  endearments.  The 
members  of  a  slave  family  may  be  forcibly  separated  so  that  they 
shall  never  more  meet  until  the  final  judgment.  And  cupidity 


34 

often  induces  the  masters  to  practise  what  the  law  allows.  Broth- 
ers and  sisters,  parents  and  children,  husbands  and  wives  are  torn 
asunder,  and  permitted  to  see  each  other  no  more.  These  acts  are 
daily  occurring  in  the  midst  of  us.  The  shrieks  and  the  agony, 
often  witnessed  on  such  occasions,  proclaim  with  a  trumpet- 
tongue  the  iniquity  and  cruelty  of  our  system.  The  cries  of  these 
sufferers  go  up  to  the  ears  of  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth.  There  is  not 
a  neighborhood  where  these  heart-rending  scenes  are  not  dis- 
played. There  is  not  a  village  or  road  that  does  not  behold  the 
sad  procession  of  manacled  outcasts,  whose  chains  and  mournful 
countenances  tell  that  they  are  exiled  by  force  from  all  that  their 
hearts  hold  dear.  Our  church,  years  ago,  raised  its  voice  of  sol- 
emn warning  against  this  flagrant  violation  of  every  principle  of 
mercy,  justice,  and  humanity.  Yet  we  blush  to  announce  to  you 
and  to  the  world  that  this  warning  has  been  often  disregarded, 
even  by  those  who  hold  to  our  communion.  Cases  have  occurred 
in  our  own  denomination  where  professors  of  the  religion  of  mercy 
have  torn  the  mother  from  her  children,  and  sent  her  into  a  mer- 
ciless and  returnless  exile.  Yet  acts  of  discipline  have  rarely 
[never~\  followed  such  conduct." 

In  1835,  Mr.  Stewart,  of  Illinois,  a  ruling  elder,  in  a 
speech  urging  the  General  Assembly  of  which  he  was  a 
member,  to  act  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  bears  this  testi- 
mony to  the  existing  state  of  things  in  the  Presbyterian 
church  : 

"  I  hope  this  Assembly  are  prepared  to  come  out  fully  and  de- 
clare their  sentiments,  that  slaveholding  is  a  most  flagrant  and 
heinous  SIN.  Let  us  not  pass  it  by  in  this  indirect  way,  while  so 
many  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  our  fellow-creatures  are 
writhing  under  the  lash,  often  inflicted  too,  by  ministers  and 
elders  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  ...... 

"In  this  church,  a  man  may  take  a  free-born  child,  force  it 
away  from  its  parents,  to  whom  God  gave  it  in  charge,  saying, 
•  Bring  it  up  for  me,'  and  sell  it  as  a  beast  or  hold  it  in  perpetual 
bondage,  and  not  only  escape  corporeal  punishment,  but  really  be 
esteemed  an  excellent  Christian.  •  Nay,  even  ministers  of  the  gos- 
pel, and  Doctors  of  Divinity,  may  engage  in  this  unholy  traffic, 
and  yet  sustain  their  high  and  holy  calling.  .... 

"Elders,  ministers,  and  Doctors  of  Divinity  are,  with  both 
hands,  engaged  in  the  practice." 

The  speech  from  which  the  above  is  extracted,  was 
made  in  support  of  various  memorials  and  petitions  from 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  asking  that  the 
General  Assembly  might  proceed  to  carry  out  its  princi- 
-ples  as  they  were  avowed  in  1794  and  in  1818.  Nothing 
was  done  this  session,  further  than  to  refer  all  such  me- 
morials and  petitions  to  a  committee  (a  majority  of  whom 


35 

•were  known  to  be  opposed  to  the  prayer  of  the  memorial- 
ists), to  report  at  the  next  session  in  1836. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly  in  1836,  the  first  thing 
that  was  done,  to  conciliate  the  excited  slaveholders,  was 
to  elect  one  of  them  to  be  Moderator. 

The  majority  of  the  committee  appointed  in  1835,  of 
\vhich  the  Rev.  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.,  and  theological 
professor,  was  chairman,  did  accordingly  report  at  the 
session  of  1836,  as  follows : 

"That  after  the  most  mature  deliberation,  which  they  have 
been  able  to  bestow  on  the  interesting  and  important  question  re- 
ferred to  them,  they  would  most  respectfully  recommend  to  the 
General  Assembly,  the  adoption  of  the  following  preamble  and 
resolution  : 

"  Whereas,  the  subject  of  slavery  is  inseparably  connected  with 
the  laws  of  many  of  the  states  in  this  Union,  with  which  it  is  by 
no  means  proper  for  an  ecclesiastical  judicature  to  interfere,  and 
involves  many  considerations  in  regard  to  which  great  diversity 
of  opinion  and  intensity  of  feeling,  are  known  to  exist  in  the 
churches  represented  in  this  Assembly  :  And  whereas,  there  is 
great  reason  to  believe,  that  any  action  on  the  part  of  this  Assem- 
bly in  reference  to  this  subject,  would  tend  to  distract  and  divide 
our  churches,  and  would  probably,  in  no  wise  prqmote  the  benefit 
of  those  whose  welfare  is  immediately  contemplated  in  the  memo- 
rials in  question," 

Therefore,  Resolved, — 

1.  "That  it  is  not  expedient  for  the  Assembly  to  take  any  fur- 
ther ordpr  in  relation  to  this  subject. 

2.  "  That  as  the  notes  which  have  been  expunged  from  our  pub- 
lic formularies,  and  which  some  of  the  memorials  referred  to  the 
committee  request  to  have  restored,  were  introduced  irregularly — 
never  had  the  sanction  of  the  church — and  therefore,  never  pos- 
sessed any  authority — the  General  Assembly  has  no  power,  nor 
would  they  think  it  expedient  to  assign  them  a  place  in  the  au- 
thorized standards  of  the  church." 

The  minority  of  the  committee,  the  Reverend  Messrs. 
Dicke}"  and  Beman,  reported  the  following  resolutions : 
Resolved, — 

1.  "That  the  buying,  selling,  or  holding  a  human  being  as 
property,  is  in  the  sight  of  God  a  heinous  sin,  and  ought  to  subject 
the  doer  of  it  to  the  censures  of  the  church. 

2.  "That  it  is  the  duty  of  every  one,  and  especially  of  every 
Christian,  who  may  be  involved  in  this  sin,  to  free  himself  from 
its  entanglement  without  delay. 

3.  "  That  it  is  the  duty  of  every  one,  especially  of  every  Chris- 
tian, in  the  meekness  and  firmness  of  the  gospel,  to  plead  the  cause 


36 

of  the  poor  and  needy  by  testifying  against  the  principle  and  prac- 
tice of  slaveholding ;  and  to  use  his  best  endeavors  to  deliver  the 
church  of  God  from  the  evil ;  and  to  bring  about  the  emancipa- 
tion of  the  slaves  in  these  United  States,  and  throughout  the 
world." 

The  slaveholding  delegates  to  the  number  of  forty- 
eight,  met  apart,  and  Resolved, — 

"  That  if  the  General  Assembly  shall  undertake  to  exercise  au- 
thority on  the  subject  of  slavery,  so  as  to  make  it  an  immorality, 
or  shall  in  any  way  declare  that  Christians  are  criminal  in  hold- 
ing slaves,  that  a  declaration  shall  be  presented  by  the  Southern 
delegation,  declining  their  jurisdiction  in  the  case,  and  our  deter- 
mination not  to  submit  to  such  decision." 

At  an  adjourned  meeting  they  adopted  the  following 
preamble  and  resolution,  to  be  presented  in  the  Assembly, 
as  a  substitute  for  those  of  Dr.  Miller  : — 

"Whereas  the  subject  of  slavery  is  inseparably  connected  with 
the  laws  of  many  of  the  states  of  this  Union,  in  which  it  exists 
under  the  sanction  of  said  laws,  and  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States ;  and  whereas,  slavery  is  recognized  in  both  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments  as  an  existing  relation,  and  is  not  con- 
demned by  the  authority  of  God  :  therefore,  Resolved, — The  Gen- 
eral Assembly  have  no  authority  to  assume  or  exercise  jurisdic- 
tion in  regard  to  the  existence  of  slavery." 

The  whole  subject  was  finally  disposed  of  by  the  adop- 
tion of  the  following  preamble  and  resolution  : — 

"Inasmuch  as  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  in 
its  preliminary  and  fundamental  principles,  declares  that  no 
church  judicatories  ought  to  pretend  to  make  laws  to  bind  the 
conscience  in  virtue  of  their  own  authority;  and  as  the  urgency 
of  the  business  of  the  Assembly,  and  the  shortness  of  the  time 
during  which  they  can  continue  in  session,  render  it  impossible 
to  deliberate  and  decide  judiciously  on  the  subject  of  slavery  in 
its  relation  to  the  church  :  therefore,  Kesolved, — That  this  whole 
subject  bo  indefinitely  postponed." 

A  large  number  of  memorials  and  petitions  went  up  to 
the  General  Assembly  of  1837.  They  were  referred  to  a 
committee  of  which  the  Rev.  Dr.  Witherspoon,  a  slave- 
holder of  South  Carolina — the  same  who  was  moderator 
the  year  before — was  chairman.  After  detaining  them 
till  nearly  the  usual  time  for  the  final  adjournment  of  the 
Assembly,  he  reported  that  "  the  committee  had  had  a 
number  of  papers  submitted  to  them  from  various  Synods, 
churches,  and  individuals,  men  and  women,  on  the  subject 
of  slavery :  and  the  committee  had  unanimously  agreed 
(with  the  exception  of  a  single  member)  to  direct  that 


3T 

they  be  returned  to  the  house,  and  that  he  should  move 
to  lay  the  whole  subject  on  the  table,"  which  was  ac- 
cordingly done  by  a  vote  of  97  to  28. 

In  1838  the  Presbyterian  church  separated  on  doctrinal 
differences.  Instead  of  one  General  Assembly,  there  are 
now  two,  known  as  the  "  Old  School "  and  the  "  New 
School."  In  the  convention,  which  _  was  held  by  the  Old 
School  preparatory  to  separation,  it  was  Resolved, — 

"  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  convention,  it  is  of  the  greatest 
consequence  to  the  best  interests  of  our  church  that  the  subject 
of  slavery  shall  not  be  agitated  or  discussed  in  the  sessions  of  the 
ensuing  General  Assembly,  and  if  any  motion  shall  be  made,  or 
resolution  offered  touching  the  same,  this  Convention  is  of  opin- 
ion that  the  members  of  Convention  in  that  body  ought  to  unite 
in  disposing  of  it,  as  far  as  may  be  possible,  without  debate." 

Since  the  separation  the  course  of  the  Old  School  has 
been  regulated  by  the  spirit  of  this  resolution.  It  has 
done  nothing  on  the  subject. 

Petitions  and  memorials  against  slavery  were  presented 
in  the  New  School  Assembly  at  its  first  session  in  1838, 
and  referred  to  a  committee  which  reported  "  that  the 
applicants,  for  reasons  satisfactory  to  themselves,  have 
withdrawn  their  papers."  The  committee  was  discharged. 

In  1839  it  referred  the  whole  subject  to  the  Presbyte- 
ries, to  do  what  they  might  deem  advisable. 

In  1840  a  large  number  of  memorials  and  petitions 
against  slavery  were  sent  in,  and  referred  to  the  usual 
committee.  The  committee  reported  a  resolution,  re- 
ferring to  what  had  been  done  last  year,  declaring  it 
inexpedient  'for  the  Assembly  to  do  anything  further  on 
the  subject.  Several  attempts  were  made  by  the  abolition 
members  of  the  Assembly  to  obtain  a  decided  expression 
of  its  views,  but  they  proved  ineffectual,  and  the  whole 
subject  was  indefinitely  postponed.  Why,  it  may  be 
asked,  especially  by  those  who  at  the  time  the  separation 
took  place  flattered  themselves  that  the  New  School 
would  show  itself  really  opposed  to  slavey, — Why  has 
such  a  result  been  brought  about  ?  The  answer  is  plain: 
The  New  School  Assembly  is  more  solicitous  to  have  the 
favor  of  the  few  slaveholders  who-  are  members,  than  to 
have  the  blessings  of  the  poor  who  are  perishing  in  their 
grasp  ;  more  earnest  to  equal  the  Old  School  in  numbers 
than  to  outstrip  it  in  righteousness. 


38 

SENTIMENTS  OF  PRESBYTERIES  AND 
SYNODS. 

Although  many  of  the  influential  Presbyterian  ministers 
in  the  free  states,  especially  in  the  cities  and  large  towns, 
have  shown  themselves  ready  to  second  the  slaveholding 
ministers  and  laymen  in  their  opposition  to  abolitionism, 
from  some  cause  it  has  happened  that  the  free  state  Pres- 
byteries and  Synods  have  not  committed  themselves 
directly  on  the  question.  They  have  attempted  to  stay 
the  progress  of  abolitionism  by  resolutions  bearing  on  it 
indirectly, — but  well  understood  by  those  who  were  to  act 
under  them  as  intended  to  exclude,  as  far  as  was  safe,  the 
question  of  abolition  from  the  churches. 

The  following  resolutions  were  passed  by  Presbyteries 
and  Synods  in  slave  states  : — 

HOPEWELL   PRESBYTERY,    SOUTH   CAROLINA. 

1.  "  Slavery  has  existed  in  the  church  of  God  from  the  time  of 
Abraham  to  this  day.     Members  of  the  church  of  God  have  held 
slaves  bought  with  their  money,  and  born  in  their  houses;   and 
this  relation  is  not  only  recognized,  but  its  duties  are  dunned 
clearly,  both  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments. 

2.  "  Emancipation   is  not  mentioned  among  the  duties  of  the 
master  to  his  slave,  while  obedience,  '  even  to  the  froward '  blaster, 
is  enjoined  upon  the  slave. 

3.  "  No  instance  can  be  produced  of  an  otherwise  orderly  Chris- 
tian being  REPROVED,  much   less  EXCOMMUNICATED   from  the 
church,  for  the  single  act  of  holding  domestic  slaves,  from  the 
days  of  Abraham  down  to  the  date  of  the  modern  abolitionist." 

HARMONY   PRESBYTERY   OF  SOUTH   CAROLINA. 

"  Whereas,  Sundry  persons  in  Scotland  and  England,  and  others 
in  the  North,  East,  and  West  of  our  country,  have  denounced  sla- 
very as  obnoxious  to  the  laws  of  God,  some  of  whom  have  pre- 
sented before  the  general  assembly  .of  our  church  and  the  congress 
of  the  nation  memorials  and  petitions,  with  the  avowed  object  of 
bringing  into  disgrace  slaveholders,  and  abolishing  the  relation  of 
master  and  slave;  and  whereas,  from  the  said  proceedings,  and 
the  statements,  reasonings,  and  circumstances  connected  there- 
with, it  is  most  manifest  that  those  persons  'know  not  what  they 
say,  nor  whereof  they  affirm,'  and  with  this  ignorance  discover  a 
spirit  of  self-righteousness  and  exclusive  sanctity,"  &c.  ; — 

Therefore,  1.  Resolved, — 

"  That  as  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  is  not  of  this  world,  His 
church,  as  such,  has  no  right  to  abolish,  alter,  or  effect  any  insti- 
tution or  ordinance  of  men,  political  or  civil,"  &c. 


39 

2.  Resolved : — "That  slavery  has  existed  from  the  days  of  those 
good  old  slaveholders  and  patriarchs,  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob, 
(who  are  now  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven)  to  the  time  when  the 
Apostle  Paul  sent  a  rur.-away  home  to  his  master,  Philemon,  and 
wrote  a  Christian  and  fraternal  letter  to  this  slaveholder,  which 
we  find  still  stands  in  the  canon  of  the  Scriptures — and  that  slavery 
has  existed  ever  since  the  days  of  the  Apostle,  and  does  now  exist." 

3.  Resolved  : — "That  as  the  relative  duties  of  master  and  slave 
are  taught  in  the  Scriptures,  in  the  same  manner  as  those  of  parent 
and  child,  and  husband  and  wife,  the  existence  of  slavery  itself  is 
not  opposed  to  the  will  of  God  ;  and  whosoever  has  a  conscience 
too  tender  to  recognize  this  relation  as  lawful,  is  'righteous  over 
much,'  is  '  wise  above  what  is  written,'  and  has  submitted  his  neck 
to  the  yoke  of  men,  sacrificed  his  Christian  liberty  of  conscience, 
and  leaves  the  infallible  word  of  God  for  the  fancies  and  doctrines 
of  men.'' 

CHARLESTON   UNION   PRESBYTERY. 

"  It  is  a  principle  which  meets  the  views  of  this  body,  that  slav- 
ery, as  it  exists  among  us,  is  a  political  institution  with  which  ec- 
clesiastical judicatories  have  not  the  smallest  right  to  interfere; 
and  in  relation  to  which  any  such  interference,  especially  at  the 
present  momentous  crisis,  would  be  morally  wrong,  and  fraught 
with  the  most  dangerous  and  pernicious  consequences.  The  senti- 
ments which  we  maintain,  in  common  with  Christians  at  the  South 
of  every  denomination,  are  sentiments  which  so  fully  approve  them- 
selves to  our  consciences,  are  so  identified  with  our  solemn  convic- 
tions of  duty,  that  we  should  maintain  them  under  any  circum- 
stances." 

Resolved, — 

"  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  Presbytery,  the  holding  .of  slaves, 
so  far  from  being  a  SIN  in  the  sight  of  God,  is  no  where  condemned 
in  his  holy  word — that  it  is  in  accordance  with  the  example,  or 
consistent  with  the  precepts  of  patriarchs,  apostles,  and  prophets, 
and  that  it  is  compatible  with  the  most  fraternal  regard  to  the  best 
good  of  those  servants  whom  God  may  have  committed  to  our 
charge;  and  that,  therefore,  they  who  assume  the  contrary  posi- 
tion, and  lay  it  down  as  a  fundamental  principle  in  morals  and  re- 
ligion, that  all  slaveholding  is  wrong,  proceed  upon  false  prin- 
ciples." 

SYNOD  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA  AND  GEORGIA. 

Resolved,  unanimously, — [Dec.,  1834]. 

"  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  synod,  abolition  societies,  and  the 
principles  on  which  they  are  founded  in  the  United  States,  are 
inconsistent  with  the  interests  of  the  slaves,  the  rights  of  the 
holders,  and  the  great  principles  of  our  political  institution." 

SYNOD    OF   VIRGINIA. 

The  committee  to  whom  were  referred  the  resolutions,  &c.,  have 
according  to  order,  had  the  same  under  consideration — and  re- 


40 

spectfully  report  that  in  their  judgment  the  following  resolutions 
are  necessary  and  proper  to  be  adopted  by  the  Synod  at  the  pres- 
ent time : 

"Whereas,  the  publications  and  proceedings  of  certain  organ- 
ized associations,  commonly  called  anti-slavery,  or  abolition  soci- 
eties, which  have  arisen  in  some  parts  of  our  land,  have  greatly 
disturbed  and  are  still  greatly  disturbing  the  peace  of  the  church 
and  of  the  country  ;  and  the  Synod  of  Virginia  deem  it  a  solemn 
duty  which  they  owe  to  themselves  and  to  the  community  to  de- 
clare their  sentiments  upon  the  subject;  therefore, 

Resolved,  unanimously, — 

"  That  we  consider  the  dogma  fiercely  promulgated  by  said  asso- 
ciations— that  slavery  as  it  exists  in  our  slaveholding  states  is 
necessarily  sinful,  and  ought  to  bo  immediately  abolished,  and 
the  conclusions  which  naturally  follow  from  that  dogma,  as  di- 
rectly and  palpably  contrary  to  the  plainest  principles  of  com- 
mon sense  and  common  humanity,  and  to  the  clearest  authority 
of  the  word  of  God." 

The  above  are  all  of  the  Old  School.  The  following  is 
from  a  slaveholding  New  School  church,  in  Petersburg, 
Virginia  (16th  Nov.,  1838)  :— 

"  Whereas,  the  General  Assembly  did,  in  the  year  1818,  pass 
a  law  which  contains  provisions  for  slaves,  irreconcilable  with 
our  civil  institutions,  and  solemnly  declaring  slavery  to  be  sin 
against  God — a  law  at  once  offensive  and  insulting  to  the  whole 
Southern  community," 

1.  .Resolved, — 

"  That,  as  slaveholders,  we  cannot  consent  longer  to  remain  in 
connection  with  any  church  where  there  exists  a  statute  confer- 
ring the  right  upon  slaves  to  arraign  their  masters  before  the 
judicatory  of  the  church — and  that  too  for  the  act  of  selling  them 
•without  their  consent  first  had  and  obtained." 

2.  Resolved, — 

"  That  as  the  Great  Head  of  the  church  has  recognized  the  re- 
lation of  master  and  slave,  we  conscientiously  believe  that  slavery 
is  not  a  sin  against  God  as  declared  by  the  General  Assembly." 

3.  Resolved, — 

"That  there  is  no- tyranny  more  oppressive  than  that  which  is 
sometimes  sanctioned  by  the  operation  of  ecclesiastical  law." 

SENTIMENTS  OF  PRESBYTERIAN  MINISTERS. 

The  Rev.  Gardiner  Spring,  D.  D.,  of  New  York  : 
At  the  anniversary  of  the  American  Colonization  Soci- 
ety at  the  city  of  Washington,  in  1839,  this  gentleman 
appeared  on  the  platform  as  one  of  the  speakers,  with  Mr. 


41 

Henry  D.  Wise  (M.  C.)?  of  Virginia,  a  slaveholder  and 
professed  duelist.  The  latter  had  said  in  his  speech,  the 
best  way  to  meet  the  abolitionists  was  with  " Dupont' 's  best " 
[gunpowder]  and  cold  steel.  The  Sun,  one  of  the  New 
York  city  journals,  tells  us — the  Rev.  Doctor  spoke  with 
sympathy  of  the  sentiments  of  the  South  as  evinced  in  the 
speech  of  Mr.  Wise. 

Since  this,  Dr.  S.  has  preached  a  series  of  sermons  to 
his  congregation  on  slavery  in  its  scriptural  relations. 
These  sermons  have  been  printed,  and  are  looked  on  by 
the  pro-slavery  party  as  highly  serviceable  to  their  cause. 

The  Rev.  Joel  Parker,  D.  D.,  President  of  the  Presby- 
terian Theological  Seminary,  New  York  : 

"  Abolitionism  might  be  pronounced  a  sin  as  well  as  slavery." 

This  was  said,  according  to  the  American  papers,  at  the 
last  session  of  the  (N.  S.)  General  Assembly,  in  support- 
ing the  proposition  of  a  slaveholder,  that  "  all  action  on 
the  subject  of  slavery,  should  be  declared  by  that  body 
beyond  its  relations  and  functions." 

The  Rev.  Dr.  P.,  at  the  beginning  of  the  anti-slavery 
movement  in  the  United  States,  was  an  abolitionist.  He 
was  sent  to  New  Orleans,  being  thoxight  eminently  fitted 
as  a  Christian  minister,  to  contend  against  the  prevailing 
iniquities  of  that  slaveholding  city.  He  had  not  been 
there  long,  before  he  became  a  colonizationist.  He  hap- 
pened to  be  at  Alton,  Illinois,  at  the  time  the  mob  spirit 
was  beginning  to  show  its  bloody  intents  toward  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Lovejoy.  His  injurious  remarks  in  public  against 
the  abolitionists  were  thought  to  have  contributed  to  ex- 
cite the  mob  to  the  fatal  issue  which  took  place.  He 
afterwards  returned  to  New  York  ;  was  elected  pastor  of 
the  Tabernacle  church,  of  which  Mr.  Lewis  Tappan  was 
a  member;  resisted  the  formation  by  that  gentleman  of 
an  anti-slavery  society  among  the  members  of  the  church  ; 
prosecuted  Mr.  T.  before  the  church  session,  on  various 
charges,  with  a  view  of  ejecting  him  from  the  church,  and 
has,  generally,  since  his  return  to  New  York,  distinguish- 
ed himself  by  bitterness  of  spirit  and  language  against 
the  anti-slavery  cause.  Since  all  which,  he  has  been 
made  a  D.  D.  and  President  of  the  (N.  S.)  Theological 
Seminary  in  New  York. 

The  Rev.  Samuel  H.  Cox,  D.  D.;  of  the  city  of  Brook- 


42 

lyn,  moved  the  indefinite  postponement  of  the  slavery 
question  at  the  last  (N.  S.)  General  Assembly.  On  the 
motion  being  carried  he  exultingly  said,  "  Our  Vesuvius 
is  safely  capped  for  three  years" — the  Assembly  not 
meeting  again  till  1843.  Dr.  Cox  was  at  one  time  an 
abolitionist. 

The 'Rev.  William  S.  Plumuier,  D.  D.,  of  Richmond: 
[This  gentleman  is  the  leader  of  the  Old  School  party. 
He  was  absent  from  Richmond  at  the  time  the  clergy  in 
that  city  purged  themselves  in  a  body,  from  the  charge  of 
being  favorably  disposed  to  abolition.  [See  page  14.] 
On  his  return,  he  lost  no  time  in  communicating  to  the 
'•'Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Correspondence,"  his 
agreement  with  his  clerical  brethen.  The  passages  quot- 
ed occur  in  his  letter  to  the  chairman.] 

"I  have  carefully  watched  this  matter  from  its  earliest  exist- 
ence, and  everything  I  have  seen  or  heard  of  its  character,  both 
from  its  patrons  and  its  enemies,  has  confirmed  me,  beyond  repent- 
ance, in  the  belief,  that,  let  the  character  of  Abolitionists  be  what 
it  may,  in  the  sight  of  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  this  is  the  most 
meddlesome,  impudent,  reckless,  fierce,  and  wicked  excitement  I 
ever  saw. 

"  If  Abolitionists  will  set  the  country  in  a  blaze,  it  is  but  fair 
that  they  should  receive  the  first  warming  at  the  fire. 

"  Let  it  be  proclaimed  throughout  the  nation  that  every  move- 
ment made  by  the  fanatics  (so  far  as  it  has  any  effect  in  the  South) 
does  but  rivet  every  fetter  of  the  bondsman — diminish  the  proba- 
bility of  anything  being  successfully  undertaken  for  making  him 
either  fit  for  freedom  or  likely  to  obtain  it.  We  have  the  author- 
ity of  Montesquieu,  Burke,  and  Coleridge,  three  eminent  masters 
of  the  science  of  human  nature,  that  of  all  men  slaveholders  are 
the  most  jealous  of  their  liberties.  One  of  Pennsylvania's  most 
gifted  sons  has  lately  pronounced  the  South  the  cradle  of  liberty. 
v  "  Lastly — Abolitionists  are  like  infidels,  wholly  unaddicted  to 
mart3Trdom  for  opinion's  sake.  Let  them  understand  that  they 
will  be  caught  [lynched]  if  they  come  among  us,  and  they  will 
take  good  heed  to  keep  out  of  our  way.  There  is  not  one  man 
among  them  who  has  any  more  idea  of  shedding  his  blood  in  this 
cause  than  he  has  of  making  war  on  the  Grand  Turk." 

Re.v.  Thomas  S.  Witherspoon,  of  Alabama,  writing  to 
the  editor  of  the  Emancipator: 

"I  draw  my  warrant  from  the  scriptures  of  the  Old  and  !N"ew 
Testaments  to  hold  the  slave  in  bondage.  The  principle  of  hold- 
ing the  heathen  in  bondage  is  recognized  by  God.  .  .  .  \Vhen 
the  tardy  process  of  the  law  is  too  long  in  redressing  our  griev- 
ances, we  of  the  South  have  adopted  the  summary  remedy  of 


43 

Judge  Lynch  ;  and  really,  I  think  it  one  of  the  most  wholesome 
and  salutary  remedies  for  the.makdy  of  Northern  fanaticism  that 
can  be  applied,  and  no  doubt  my  worthy  friend,  the  editor  of 
the  Emancipator  and  Human  Eights,  would  feel  the  better  of 
its  enforcement,  provided  he  hiid  a  Southern  administrator.  I  go 
to  the  Bible  for  my  warrant  in  all  moral  matters.  .  .  Let  your 
emissaries  dare  venture  to  cross  the  Potomac,  and  I  cannot 
promise  you  that  their  fate  will  be  less  than  Hainan's.  Then 
beware  how  you  goad  an  insulted,  but  magnanimous  people  to 
deeds  of  desperation." 

Rev.  Robert  1ST.  Anderson,  of  Virginia : 

"To  the  Sessions  of  the  Presbyterian  Congregations 
within  the  bounds  of  the  West  Hanover  Presbytery:" 

"At  the  approaching  stated  meeting  of  our  Presbytery,  I 
design  to  offer  a  preamble  and  string  of  resolutions  on  the  subject 
of  the  use  of  wine  in  the  Lord's  Supper;  and  also  a  preamble 
and  string  of  resolutions  on  the  subject  of  the  treasonable  and 
abominably  wicked  interference  of  the  Northern  and  Eastern 
fanatics,  with  our  political  and  civil  rights,  our  property,  and 
our  domestic  concerns.  You  are  aware  that  our  clergy,  whether 
with  or  without  reason,  are  more  suspected  by  the  public,  than 
the  clergy  of  other  denominations.  Now,  dear  Christian  breth- 
ren, I  humbly  express  it  as  my  earnest  wish,  that  you  quit  your- 
selves like  men.  If  there  be  any  stray  goat  of  a  minister  among 
you,  tainted  with  the  blood-hound  principles  of  abolitionism,  let 
him  be  ferreted  out,  silenced,  excommunicated,  and  left  to  the 
public  to  dispose  of  him  in  other  respects. 

"Your  affectionate  brother  in  the  Lord, 

ROBERT  N.  ANDERSON." 

THE  PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL   CHURCH. 

The  number  of  members  in  this  church  is  not  known. 
It  is,  however,  small  when  compared  with  the  number  in 
any  of  the  churches  that  have  been  mentioned.  Its  con- 
gregations are  mostly  in  the  cities  and  towns,  and  they 
generally  consist  of  persons  in  the  wealthier  classes  of 
society.  This,  together  with  the  smallness  of  its  numbers 
and  the  authority  of  the  bishops,  has  prevented  it  from 
being  much  agitated  with  the  anti-slavery  question.  Its 
leading  ministers,  so  far  as  they  concern  themselves  at  all 
about  the  slavery  question,  are  in  favor  of  the  American 
colonization  scheme.  Their  influence  is,  therefore,  de- 
cidedly adverse  to  emancipation.  The  prevailing  temper 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  church  is  thus  testified  of  by 
John  Jay,  Esq.,  of  the  city  of  New  York,  himself  an 
Episcopalian,  in  a  pamphlet  entitled,  "  Thoughts  on  the 
duty  of  the  Episcopal  church  in  relation  to  Slavery  :" 


44 

"Alas !  for  the  expectation  that  she  would  conform  to  the  spirit 
of  her  ancient  mother!  She  has  not  merely  remained  a  mute  and 
careless  spectator  of  this  great  conflict  of  truth  and  justice  with 
hypocrisy  and  cruelty,  but  her  very  priests  and  deacons  may  be 
seen  ministering  at  the  altar  of  slavery,  offering  their  talents  and 
influence  at  its  unholy  shrine,  and  openly  repeating  the  awful 
blasphemy,  that  the  precepts  of  our  Saviour  sanction  the  system  of 
American  slavery.  Her  Northern  (free  State)  clergy,  with  rare 
exceptions,  whatever  they  may  feel  upon  this  subject,  rebuke  it 
neither  in  public  nor  in  private;  and  her  periodicals,  far  from 
advancing  the  progress  of  abolition,  at  times  oppose  our  societies, 
impliedly  defendingslavery,  as  not  incompatible  with  Christianity, 
and  occasionally  withholding  information  useful  to  the  cause  of 
freedom." 

Although  apparently  desirous  of  keeping  clear  of  all 
connection  with  the  anti-slavery  movement,  the  Episco- 
palians have  not  failed  when  a  suitable  opportunity  pre- 
sented itself  to  throw  their  influence  against  it. 

The  Rev.  Peter  Williams,  rector  of  St.  Philip's  church, 
New  York,  a  colored  gentlemen,  was  one  of  the  executive 
committee  of  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society,  in 
1834,  when  the  abolitionists  were  exposed  in  their  persons 
and  property  to  the  fiercest  onsets  of  pro-slavery  mobs. 
The  Bishop  of  the  diocese  (Rev.  Benjamin  F.  Onderdonk, 
D.  D.)  required  of  Mr.  Williams  to  relinquish  his  place 
in  the  committee,  to  which  requisition  Mr.  W.  thought  it 
his  duty  to  conform. 

Bishop  Bowen,  of  Charleston, -South  Carolina,  not  long 
after  the  meeting  in  that  £ity,  in  which  the  "reverend 
gentlemen  of  the  clergy,''  had  so  handsomely  and  unani- 
mously "  responded  to  public  sentiment,"  volunteered  in 
an  address  to  the  Convention  of  his  diocese,  a  denuncia- 
tion of  the  "malignant  philanthropy  of  abolition,"  and 
contrasted  "  the  savageism  and  outlawry  consequent  on 
abolition,"  with  "domestic  servitude  under  the  benign 
influence  of  Christian  principles  and  Christian  institu- 
tions !  " — principles  and  institutions  which  denied  Sunday 
School  instruction  to  free  colored  children,  and  which,  at 
the  very  time  of  the  Address,  tolerated  the  offer  in  the 
Charleston  Courier  of  fifty  dollars  for  the  HEAD  of  a  fugi- 
tive slave — principles  and  institutions  which  led  Mr.  Pres- 
ton to  declare  in  his  place  as  a  Senator  of  the  United 
States,  "  Let  an  abolitionist  come  within  the  borders  of 
South  Carolina — if  we  can  catch  him  we  will  hang  him." 


45 

In  1836,  a  clergyman  in  North  Carolina,  of  the  name 
of  Freeman,  preached  in  the  presence  of  his  bishop  (Rev. 
Levi  S.  Ives,  D.  D  ,  a  native  of  a  free  state),  two  sermons 
on  the  rights  and  duties  of  slaveholders.  In  these  he 
essayed  to  justify  from  the  Bible  the  slavery  both  of 
white  men  and  negroes,  and  insisted  that  "  without  a  new 
revelation  from  heaven  no  man  was  authorized  to  pro- 
nounce slavery  wrong."  The  sermons  were  printed  in  a 
pamphlet,  prefaced  with  a  letter  to  Mr.  Freeman  from  the 
bishop  of  North  Carolina,  declaring  that  he  had  "listened 
with  most  unfeigned  pleasure "  to  his  discourses,  and 
advised  their  publication  as  being  "  urgently  called  for  at 
the  present  time.'' 

"The  Protestant  Episcopal  Society  for  the  advance- 
ment of  Christianity  in  South  Carolina"  thought  it  expe- 
dient, and  in  all  likelihood  with  Bishop  Bowen's  approba- 
tion, to  republish  Mr.  Freeman's  pamphlet  as  a  religious 
tract  /" 

The  Churchman  is  edited  by  a  Doctor  of  Divinity,  late 
an  instructor  in  a  theological  seminary,  and  enjoys  the 
especial  patronage  of  the  Bishop  of  New  York,  and  was 
recently  officially  recommended  by  him  to  the  favor  of  the 
convention.  The  editor  has  frequently  assailed  the  abo- 
litionists in  his  columns  in  bitter  and  contemptuous  terms. 
He  has  even  volunteered  to  defend  the  most  cruel  and 
iniquitous  enactment  of  the  slave  code.  In  reference  to 
the  legal  prohibition  of  teaching  the  colored  population  to 
read,  the  editor  says  : 

"  All  the  knowledge  which  is  necessary  to  salvation,  all  the 
knowledge  of  our  duty  toward  God,  and  our  duty  toward  our 
neighbor,  may  be  communicated  by  oral  instruction,  and  there- 
fore a  law  of  the  land  interdicting  other  means  of  instruction  does 
not  trench  upon  the  law  of  God." 

A  certain  congregation  in  the  diocese  of  New  York  is 
said  to  hold  its  cemetery  by  a  tenure  which  forbids  the 
interment  of  any  colored  person ;  so  that  if  an  Episcopal 
colored  clergyman  happen  to  die  in  that  parish,  he  would 
be  indebted  to  others  than  his  Episcopal  brethren  for  a 


grave 


There  are  instances  of  regularly  ordained  ministers, 
rectors  of  parishes,  men  having  as  valid  a  commission  to 
preach  the  gospel  as  any  other  presbyters  in  the  Episcopal 
church,  who  are  virtually  denied  a  seat  in  her  Ecclesias- 


000717756     1  46 


tical  councils,  solely  because  they  are  men  of  color.  The 
rector  of  a  colored  church  in  Philadelphia,  is  excluded  by 
an  express  canon  of  the  Diocesan  Convention. 

"  THE  GENERAL  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY  OF  THE 
PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED 
STATES,"  is  in  the  city  of  New  York.  It  is  called  the 
General  Seminary,  because  it  is  under  the  superintendence 
of  the  whole  church  ;  the  board  of  trustees  being  composed 
of  the  Bishops,  ex-officio,  and  upwards  of  one  hundred 
clerical  and  lay  gentlemen,  representing  the  different 
states  and  territories  of  the  Union.  It  was  intended,  of 
course,  for  the  theological  education  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  ministry. 

Alexander  Crummel,  a  colored  young  gentleman  of 
New  York,  made  application  to  become  a  "candidate  for 
holy  orders"  in  the  church,  and  was  duly  admitted  as 
such.  In  due  time  Mr.  Crummel  received  from  the 
Bishop  of  the  diocese  the  usual  circular  in  such  cases,  in 
which  he  was  told  "  unless  you  belong  to  the  General 
Theological  Seminary,  as  it  is  rny  wish  that  all  the  candi- 
dates of  this  diocese  should,  when  not  prevented  by  una- 
voidable circumstances,  you  will  be  governed,"  &c. 

The  section  in  the  statutes  of  the  seminary  regulating 
admission  is  plain  and  imperative  : — "  Every  person  pro- 
ducing to  the  faculty  satisfactory  evidence  of  his  having 
'been  admitted  a  candidate  for  holy  orders,"  &c.,  "shall  be 
received  as  a  student  of  the  seminary." 

It  does  not  appear  from  the  only  account  we  have  at 
hand,  of  this  matter,  that  Mr.  Crummel  made  application 
to  the  faculty.  It  is,  however,  to  be  presumed  he  did,  and 
that  the  faculty  put  him  off  by  referring  him  to  the  board 
of  trustees.  To  the  board,  then,  he  made  his  application, 
of  which  an  account  is  given  in  the  following 

EXTRACT  FROM  THE  MINUTES: 

Tuesday,  June  25th,  1839. 

"  A  communication  from  Mr.  Crummel,  asking  admission  to 
the  Seminary  as  a  student,  was  read,  and  on  motion  referred  to  a 
Committee  consisting  of  the  following  gentlemen,  appointed  by 
the  chair  :  Eight  Rev.  Bishop  Doane,  Rev.  Drs.  Milnor,  Taylor, 
and  Smith,  Messrs.  D.  B.  Ogden,  Newton,  and  Johnson." 

June  26th,  1830. 

"  The  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Doane,  chairman  of  the  committee  on 
the  petition  of  Mr.  Crummel,  asked  to  be  relieved  from  further 
service  on  that  committee,  which  request  was  granted. 


"The  Rieht  Rev.  Bishop  Onderdonk,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  on 
motion  appointed  chairman  of  the  committee,  to  fill  the  vacancy 
thus  occasioned." 

June  11th,  1839. 

"  The  committee  on  the  petition  of  Mr.  Crummel,  submitted 
the  following : 

"The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  of  Mr. 
Crummal,  respectfully  report,  that  having  deliberately  considered 
the  said  petition,  they  are  of  opinion  that  it  ought  not  to  be 
granted,  and  they  accordingly  recommend  to  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees the  following  resolution  :  Kesolved,  That  the  prayer  of  the 
petitioner  be  not  granted. 

"The  Rev.  Dr.  Hawks,*  moved  that  the  resolution  recom- 
mended in  the  report  be  adopted." 

Mr.  Huntington  moved, — 

"  That  the  whole  subject  be  recommitted,  with  instructions  to 
the  committee  to  report,  that  the  matters  embraced  in  the  petition 
of  Mr.  Crummel  are,  according  to  Section  1,  of  Chap.  VII.  of  the 
Statutes,  referrible  to  the  faculty  rather  than  this  board." 

[This  motion  was  lost,  through  fear,  we  are 'con strained 
to  believe,  lest  the  faculty  would  not,  if  compelled  to  act, 
refuse  to  Mr.  Crummel  a  right  that  was  so  obviously  his.] 

"  Whereupon  the  question  upon  accepting  the  report  and 
adopting  the  resolution  recommended,  was  taken  up  and  decided 
in  the  affirmative. 

"The  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Doane  gave  notice,  that  he  should,  on 
the  morrow,  ask  leave  to  present  to  the  board,  and  to  enter  upon 
the  minutes  &  protest  against  the  decision. 

Friday,  June  2Sth. 

"  The  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Doane,  who  had  yesterday  given  no- 
tice of  his  intention  to  ask  leave  to  enter  a  protest,  &c.,  changed 
his  intention  as  to  the  manner  of  presenting  the  subject,  and  • 
asked  leave  to  state  to  the  board  his  reasons,  with  a  view  to  the 
entering  of  the  same  on  the  minutes,  for  dissenting  from  the  vote 
of  the  majority  on  the  report  of  the  committee,  to  whom  was  re- 
ferred the  petition  of  Mr.  Crummel.  Leave  was  not  granted." 

During  these  proceedings,  attempts  were  made  by  the  < 
Bishop  of  New  York  to  prevail  on  Mr.  Crummel  to  with- 
draw his  application  for  admission,  by  assuring  him  "the 
members  of  the  faculty  were  willing  to  impart  to  him 
[private}  instruction  in  their  respective  departments  ;  and 
that  more  evil  than  benefit  would  result  both  to  the 
church  and  himself,  by  a  formal  application  in  his  behalf 
for  admission  into  the  seminary." 

*  Dr.  Hawks  is  the  Historian  of  the  Episcopal  chnrch  in  the  United  States. 
If  it  he  true,  as  we  have  seen  stated  in  an  American  newspaper,  that  this 
gentleman  is  himself  of  mixed  blood — and  his  complexion  a  little  favors  the 
statement— it  proves  that  ihe  admixture  does  not  deteriorate  the  intellectual 
powers;  for  in  the  oratory  of  the  pulpit,  aud  as  a  writer,  Dr.  H.  stands,  de- 
servedly, among  the  distinguished  men  of  America. 


what 


nno  7  -1"7 


admission  is  excluded  from  the  minutes,  and  to  feel  that' 
the  very  fact  that  the  cause  does  not  appear  in  thel 
minutes — leaving  it  to  be  inferred,  that  it  was  for  some-'s 
thing  too  base  to  be  recorded  there — is  an  act  of  injustice' 
to  him  that  admits  of  no  excuse.* 

" 'An  Episcopalian  "  of  New  York,  jealous  for  the  hono1 
of  his   church,  published   in  one   of  the  journals  of  thj ; 
city,  a  full  account  of  these  proceedings.     The  Bishop 
New  York  made  a  short  reply  to  but  one  of  his  state-^ 
merits  (an   immaterial    one),  and   concluded   by  sayin,  , 
that  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  and  responsibilities,  Jw 
shoidd  not  certainly  be  swayed  by  any  appeal  that  might, 
be  made  to  popular  feeling. 

POSTSCRIPT. 

We  would  have  the  reader  bear  in  mind,  that  the  fore- 
going presents  but  one  side  of  the  anti-slavery  cause  ir 
the  several  churches  whose  proceedings  have  been  consid- 
ered ;  and  that  in  them  all,  there  are  abolitionists  earn 
estly  laboring   to   purify  them    from  the  defilements   o 
slavery;  and    that    they  have    strong   encouragement  to ( 
proceed,    not    only  in  view  of    what  they  have    alread; 
effected  toward  that  end,  but  in  the  steady  increase  o 
their  numbers,  and  in  other  omens  of  success. 

We  wish  him  also  to  bear  in  mind,  that  the  churche 
which  have  been  brought  before   him  are  not   the  only 
American  churches  which  are  guilty  in  giving  their  cour. 
tenance  and  support  to  slavery.     Of  others  we  have  said 
nothing,  simply  because,  to  examine  their  cases,  would  be 
to   make  this  work  too   long  for  the  object  we  have  in 
view — and  because  enough  has  been  said  to  show  substan- 
tially the  state  of  the  slavery  question  in  America,  so  far 
as  the  CHURCH  in  that  country  is  connected  with  it. 

Lastly. — We  take  pleasure  in  assuring  him  that  there 
are  considerable  portions  of  the  Methodist,  Baptist,  and 
Presbyterian  churches,  as  well  as  the  entire  of  some  of  the 
smaller  religious  bodies  in  America,  that  maintain  a  com- 
mendable testimony  against  slavery  and  its  abominations. 

*Mr.  Cruiiiiuel  became  a  member  of  the  Theological  department  of  Yale 
College,  a  Cc'iigregationnl  institution,  where  we  wish  we  could  say  he  was 
there  treated  in  a  manner  that  would  have  been  the  most  agreeable  to  him, 
as  well  as  mo;t  honorable  to  the  distinguished  professor  whose  lectures  he 
attended;  but  ve  cannot. 

Uls,,  CY  of  CALIFOKNIA 

AT 


